Ryoko's weak spot
by Dollyshesalive
Summary: Ryoko breaks the roof in a fight with Ayeka. Washu decides to remove her powers until she can controll herself. How will this effect Ryoko? R&R Please!
1. Chapter 1

Dont be to harsh on me! English is not my mother language. But I did my best to make it understandable.

I will continue this story when I've figured out what will happen!

It had been a whole day now. A whole day! Ryoko held one hand before her face. She turned it around and watched it from different angles. They were just usual hands now without her powers.

"Damn Washu..." she thought to herself. But she knew very well why her Mother had turned off her powers for the time being. Ryoko had used it without thinking again, wich could have led to serious damage, if it already had'nt.

_It all started early in the mornig, when Ryoko and Ayeka decided to have an extremely loud and important discussion about who's turn it really was to clean the toilet. Ryoko knew very well it was her turn to take care of it, but couldnt resist teasing Ayeka a bit when she got the chance. _

_It had all ended up in chaos when both ladies took the discussion to a much higher level than just shouting meaningless isults to eathother. _

_"I cleaned it last week and you know it, princess!"_

_"Ohhh you...! Ofcourse you didnt! and you didnt do it the week before that even when your name was on the schuedule!"_

_Ryoko knew this was true and decided to take it a bit further. With one hand she formed the enerysword that could easily cut almost anyting in two. She swung it back and forward, smirking at Ayeka._

_"I just think that you look so good with your head down the toliet princess, that way we dont have to see your ugly face!" _

_Any comment about the princess'es appearance would always make her go completely mad, wich Ryoko ofcourse knew._

_"Oh you take that back now you monsterwoman Ryoko!" she hissed while forming her own forcefield._

_Ryoko took position, ready to strike back at Ayeka. When the princess didnt make a move, she began running towards her._

_"hahaha! Come on if you dare princess! Im gonna...!" Ryoko didnt have time to say anything else when she suddenly slipped on a wet spot, fell helplessly to the floor and landed hard on her rear. _

_"aaaooooch!" Ryoko howled in pain when hitting the floor. She rubbed her butt with a furious look in her eyes. She was NOT going to be beat by Ayeka today._

_"Oh well, thats where you belong my dear Ryoko, you always get what you deserve." Ayeka calmly giggled while covering her mouth with her sleeve._

_Instead of getting up, Ryoko started forming an energyball, that became much bigger than the one she usually would create in their fights._

_While being so caught up in winning, she didnt even notice just how big it became. She looked at the princess with a playfull, yet mean expression on her face._

_"oh yeah, princess? Well this is what you deserve!" _

_The bright glowing energyball left Ryokos hand and darted for Ayeka, who quickly ducked to the floor._

_The rest of the story was a mess. The energyball hit a corner of the forcefield and made it change direction to continue upwards. Hitting the roof._

_With the loudest "babaaaaaaabang!" that had ever been heard by anyone in the Masaki Residence, the ball broke through the roof and dissapeared into thin air._

_Ryoko was dumbstruck. So was Ayeka. They both stared with big eyes at the biggest hole ever made in the building._

_Tenchi was the one who was given the job of fixing the roof again, wich made Ryoko feel even worse than she already did about it. Everyone had been so mad at her after the incident. Even Sasami seemed somewhat disapionted in both of the girls._

_Ryoko had tried to take the job of repairing the roof herself, but Noboyuki had told her to stay away from the roof to prevent even more damage. He was dead serious wich wasnt typical for the father of Tenchi._

_Ayeka was also feeling bad about it, even if Ryoko was pretty sure she felt good about her getting scolded infront of everyone._

_Mihoshi was probably the only one who didnt give much reflection to it. She felt kind of sorry for Ryoko since she knew she would never do anything like that on purpouse. And besides, Mihoshi was always the one to be on Ryokos side._

_The worst part though, was that the hole reached all the way to Tenchis room and over to Mayukas, wich would make it impossible for any of them to sleep in their rooms while the roof was being fixed._

_"Dont you realise what you could have done? what if me or Mayuka would have been in our rooms at that time! Ryoko you have to be more careful now that we have a child in our home." Tenchi was holding Mayukas hand, looking worried and disbelieving._

_Tenchi didnt really show anyone just how upset he was about the whole thing, but everyone could sense it. And especially Ryoko._

_And on top of all that, Washu took the event just as serious as everyone else, and decided it was for the best to remove Ryokos powers until she could learn how to controll her anger. _

_This didnt only affect Ryoko. Washu, who desperatly had been trying to create somewhat of a relation with her daughter, felt like she was back on page one again._

_"Im sorry..." She took Ryokos hand and pleaded her to think posetively. "Your powers will be back as soon as everything has calmed down, I can assure you. You might be feeling a little toned down without them, atleast for the first couple of days." she said._

_"Whatever, mom!" Ryoko snatched her hand out of the little scientists grip and darted out of the laboratorium. _

_Tenchi wouldnt look her in the eyes for the rest of the day, and only spoke to her if she tried to ask him something. And she did try. But he would only answer with a short yes or no, still not looking at her. _

"Ryoko! Where are you?" Mihoshi was now standing right underneath the tree in wich Ryoko was hiding. The former pirate growled to herself thinking, How come she would always walk around aimlessly like that, and still find exactly what she was looking for? Dumb luck..

"Yeah Im up here Mihoshi, whaddya want?"

The blonde girl looked up to see Ryoko looking down over her shoulder.

"Hello! there you are! Sasami told me to go look for you. Supper is ready!"

She felt a big lump in her throat. what if everyone would just ignore her? She felt like enough was enough... But still. She was very hungry and besides, she missed Mayuka. 'Am I easy or what?' she thought to herself. Anything that included Mayuka was worth it.

Ryoko and Mihoshi entered the kitchen to see that everyone had already begun. The crew seemed abit lightened up by then, and little Mayuka was in the centre of everyones attention. She would always make everyone smile even on the darkest of days.

Ryoko watched while Mihoshi and Sasami tried to feed Mayuka some boiled peas, with no success since the seven-year old girl would refuse to open her mouth.

"Ohh look Mayuka, its an airplane heading straight for your mouth, what are you going to do!" Mihoshi giggled and tried to slid the spoon into Mayukas mouth that had formed into only a thin line.

"mmmm-mmmm!" she refused.

Ryoko still felt misserable, but couldnt resist but smiling at this sight. She was a funny one, Mayuka, and she loved Ryoko. Almost a little too much for the others to handle sometimes. Ofcourse the little girl loved the whole family, but since Ryoko had been the only one home for long periods while Tenchi was at school, his Grandpa at the shrine, Nonoyuki at work, Mihoshi and Kiyone working at the Galaxy Police, Ayeka and Sasami on Jurai for short visits, the job was automaticaly hers. And she had grown to love it. Heck, she almost felt like Mayukas mother sometimes.

Ryoko put down her chopsticks next to the empty bowl and streched her arms in the air.

"Im going to bed guys.. Come on, Mayuka, you can sleep in my room tonight. Your room isnt safe right now" Ryoko reached out one hand at Mayuka who imdeatelly came running and almost threw herself at her. "Yeah that will be fun!" she said looking up at Ryoko while hugging her legs.

The others said goodnight and continued their supper when the two girls left for the stairs to make themselves ready for bed.

Ryoko looked down at the little girl as they entered the stairs.

"Mayuka, I am so sorry for breaking the roof to your room roday. It wasnt my meaning. I would never hurt you, you know that right Mayuka?

The little girl hugged the older womans hand even tighter and swung it back and forward.

"No mommy, Im not mad at you. Now I get to have sleepovers with you every night!" She said with a broad smile on her face.

Ryoko burst into a happy giggle and slid a hand through Makuyas hair making it messy.

"Not for ever and ever, but as long as Daddy is repairing the roof! I wouldnt mind having you though, but I think everyone else would start complaining." Ryoko looked down on Mayuka and gave her a playful wink.

The little girl laughed and winked back at her as well as she could. She hadnt really gotten controll over that winking-with-one-eye-only thing, wich made Ryoko laugh even more. "Keep blinking like that and you wont be able to stop!".

Mayuka rushed for the bed and threw herself ontop, making it bounce her up in the air and down on the floor on the other side of the bed. "wooaaah!" Ryoko heard the sound of Mayukas head hitting the floor.

She ran into the room like a crazy person and looked around for the hurt one in panic. "Hey where are you, what happened?" Ryoko half whispered. She didnt want anyone to hear that Mayuka had hurt herself, and maybe think that she had something to do with it.

A small head slowly peeked up behind the bedside, looking rather ashamed and with a small bumpmark on her forehead.

"Im here mommy! I hurt my head" She sobbed. Ryoko came rushing to her side and lifted her up on the bed.

"oowww you unlucky little one. Did you jump on the bed again huh?" Ryoko smiled and hugged the little head close to hers. "Dont worry, We'll just put a small bandage on the bump and you'll be as good as new!"

Mayuka was quiet for a while. She was still sobbing a bit but was much more calm now. she looked at Ryoko.

"Mommy..." She began.

"Yeah, what is it kiddo?"

"I want daddy to sleep in here with me tonight aswell!"

Ryokos body got stiff. 'Tenchi? Sleeping in here with me and May', she thought. No way he would do that. Not after what she did today.

"Oh May.. I dont know.. See, daddy was pretty upset with me today after the roof-thingie you know. I dont think he would want to sleep in the same room as me tonight.

'Or any other night', she thought to herself.

But before she had any time to react, May was loose from Ryokos grip and on her way downstairs, making alot of noise.

"Daaaddy!" she howled as she entered the kitchen where the rest of the family was still having supper.

Tenchi smiled and reached out his arms to her. "Come here and sit on my lap May"

He lifted up the rushing girl and sat her down "Why arent you upstairs with Ryoko?"

Mayuka pointed at her red bump on the forehead and made a sad face. "I fell off the bed and hurt myself. Daddy I want you to sleep in Ryokos room with me."

The room suddenlt got very quiet.

Tenchi was dumbstruck.

The only audiable sound came from Ayeka, whos eyebrows twitched wildly.

The young boy laughed nervously but regained his composure when he felt mayuka tapping him on his cheek.

"May... Im going to sleep on the couch tonight. Im sorry. Will you be okay?"

All of the sudden, Mihoshi cheerfully chirped "But thats a bad choice Tenchi! Ryoko has an extra bed in her room! Besides, the couch wont do your back any good." Kiyone looked up from her food and added "And Im sorry Tenchi, but Im gonna take the couch tonight since SOMEONE has a bad cold and snores allthrough the night!" she said glaring at Mihoshi.

"But you could take the extra bed in Ryokos room Kiyone" Tenchi tried to get himself out of this uncomfortable situation.

"Sorry Tenchi. I really am. But I am expecting a call tonight, my boss told me to be on guard. thats why its probably better if Im downstairs so I wont wake everyone. I might have to rush to our headquarter if an emergency strikes." Kiyone said with appology in her eyes.

Tenchi sighed and lifted Mayuka down on the floor again. He really had no choice. "Go ahead May, I'll be up as soon as I've done the dishes". He was NOT looking forward to this. Even is he knew she probably wouldnt try anything while Mayuka was still in the room, she had made too many mistakes for him to trust her.

The little girl hugged everyone, gave tenchi a kiss on the cheek and ran back upstairs to tell Ryoko that Tenchi was joining them tonight.

As soon as May had left, Ayeka turned to Tenchi in frustration "B-b-but Lord Tenchi! You cant possibly sleep in the same room as that..that woman!" She stuttered, eyes flaring.

"Seems like thats the way its gonna be tonight Miss Ayeka. I have to do it for May's sake, you understand that, dont you?" he sighed again and gave her a faint smile. "Theres really nothing I can do about it tonight. Im gonna try to get the roof fixed tomorrow and everything will be back to normal".

Ayeka looked down, but nodded. "Yes... yes Lord Tenchi. Ofcourse I understand that you need to do this for your daughter. I just worry about you. Thats all." She got up and headed for the stairs. "I hope you sleep well, Lord Tenchi. I will see you in the morning" she tried smile, but found it very hard to be convincing.

"Good night miss Ayeka, get some rest now" Tenchi smiled as he started taking care of all the dishes on the table.

"I'll help you tonight, Tenchi" Sasami said cheerfully. "Its getting late and we all need to rest after today"

"No May, did you do that?" Ryoko looked abit paniced. She knew Tenchi was probably not looking forward to this sleepover since she would always try things with him whenever they were in the same room. But this was different! "I'd better fall asleep before he gets here" she sighed.

Mayuka had already jumped in her bed and crawled under the covers, looking very pleased with herself. "I like having both of you here with me Mom" she said with a low voice.

"Good night May" Ryoko smiled. She put the covers over herself and tried to drift to sleep. It was'nt easy though. She was afraid to still be awake when Tenchi would enter the room. Tenchi being disapointed with her was the least thing she ever wanted.

The door to Ryokos room creaked open and a black-haired boy silently made his way to the second bed in the corner, where his daughter was still asleep.

Ryoko woke from the sound of the door. She opened her eyes just a tiny bit so that she could see him.

Mayuka also woke up when tenchi crawled down next to her. "Daddy?" she said drowsily.

"Yeah Im here now May, sorry that I woke you up" he apologised.

"Its okay daddy.. " She yawned and turned around to face him. "dad.. are you angry with Ryoko?"

He really didnt know what to say. Did she have to ask such uncomfortable questions when Ryoko was in the same room?

"well... yes.. no.. not exactly angry. Im just very disapointed May. What she did today was very dangerous. And I was afraid someone had gotten hurt. I was afraid that the roof had fallen down on you." He spoke very quietly so he wouldnt wake up the cyan haired girl in the bed next to them.

"Ryoko is afraid that you dont like her anymore" Mayuka said all of the sudden. "Ayeka was in that fight too, daddy, dont forget that"

Once again Tenchi was dumdstruck for a while. His little girl was smart. indeed. Nothing got passed her.

"Yeah you are right. They are both just as responsible for what happened. But Ryoko also admitted that she started it. Thats what I dont like, her picking unworthy fights with Ayeka. Its not the first time we have a hole in the roof you know." He continued "But it doesnt mean I dont like her May" he said comforting.

But Mayuka wasnt completely satisfied with her dads answers. "I dont think she knows that" she whispered.

Tenchi was silent. She was right. As right as can be! He had acted very cold agains her today.. He even felt uncomfortable looking her in the eyes when she spoke to him. oh man.. He even blamed it all on her eventough Ayeka was standing next to her right after the hallgathering after the bang.

He was so stupid, he realised that now. And he had acted unforgettable unfair to her.

May felt how Tenchi rose from the bed and stood up. He walked around his and May's bed and she could hear her fathers footsteps walking towards Ryoko.

He stopped infront of her cupboard, where she kept an empty bottle of Sake and a few drawings that Mayuka had made for her.

A pang of guilt hit Tenchi in the chest when he looked down on her. 'Look at her' he thought. 'Shes not a bad person. She just needs to know that people care.'

The moonlight was shining in on her, making her look so peaceful and innocent... sweet. Maykua was probably the only one who ever got to experience nothing but Ryokos calm and peaceful sides.

He shook his head.

This time it was Ryoko's turn to feel a weight lightly pressing the bed down right next to her back.

She didnt expect this to happen, even if she had been awake all the long.

Tenchi made her so surprised, she litterary flew up from her place, and before she knew it, she was face to face with an equally surprised Tenchi.

"Woah, Im so sorry Ryoko! I didnt mean to wake you up like that!"

Ryoko was still in chock. She was only a few inches away from Tenchi and didnt dare to move a muscle.

"T-tenchi..?" her eyes couldnt believe what they were seeing. "Whats going on?"

Tenchi now noticed how awfully close they were, and drew back a little as he relaxed his shoulders.

"Im... " He cut himself off "Ryoko can you ever forgive me for being so unfair to you today? I should never have blamed everything on you just because you did start the fight this time. It doesnt matter who did.. I was unfair Ryoko. I blamed it on you... because .." He trailed off. How was he gonna put this without making it sound stupid? "I guess it's because I know you the best" He admitted. "But its no excuse... Im sorry.."

Ryoko was speachless at this. Was Tenchi Masaki apologizing to her? She wasnt used to this. Nobody ever apologised to her.. But someone now was. And it was Tenchi.

She felt how he started to rise from her bed. "Well, Im sorry I woke you up Ryoko, I should let you rest and..."

"Tenchi..." Ryoko grabbed Tenchis arm to keep him on the bed with her. "Thank you" She looked at him with sincere eyes "No one ever did that to me before"

"Did what, Ryoko?" He gave her a puzzled look.

"Apologised to me." she said softly.

Tenchi didnt quite recognise this girl. She was so vunerable and seemed almost scared. But atleast he felt like he could relax around her right now.

"So are we good, tenchi? arent you mad anymore?" she asked.

"No.. Im not mad at you." he said with a calm voice, laying one hand on her shoulder to assure this.

Ryokos face suddenly changed from serious, to a bubbly silly one "Great!" she chirped and threw herself in his arms. She was just so happy, she couldnt even think straight. Tenchi wasnt mad at her anymore and she felt like her old self again. Only without her powers ofcourse.

Tenchi chuckled and put his arms around her, answering the embrace. He smelled so good. She had always thought so, but this time, it was intense. she could actually feel his skin agains hers and wished that they could stay like that forever. A few seconds passed. Eight, nine, ten.. maybe twenty more. None of them really knew how much time had passed. Tenchi, who had just opened his eyes, grew them wide when he realised he was still hugging her. The distance between them began to expand as they both gently pulled away, until they were just inches from eachother. Two pair of eyes were now looking right at eachother, Not knowing exactly what would happen next. 'gods.. Am I really this close to her right now?' A hundred thoughts ran throuh his mind. Tenchi tried to think clear but found it very hard as he could feel her warm breath agains his mouth.

"Ryoko.." He managed to say with faint voice, pursing his lips.

He was close now, she could feel his nosetip touching hers. Oh gods. what was he doing? Did he want to do this? This was happening. It was actually happening. Thoughts rushed through her head like a hurricane and she honestly had no idéa what Tenchi was thinking right now. Her thoughts were interupted quickly when she felt his upper lip lightly touch against hers, making her let out a small but honest gasp.

This made him even more determined to close the distance a little but more. He was panicing now, because he knew very well what was about to happen here. But He couldnt hold back much longer. Most of Ryokos lips was now in contact with his. Their breaths quickened for every second that passed and with one last breath he drew in to close the last distance beween them.

"Ahhhh!"

Mayukas scream caused them both to bolt up from their places and imedeatelly released them from their trance. Tenchi managed to fall backwards down on the floor, head first.

"Mayuka!" Ryoko shot up and rushed to the little girls side. She tried to get eyecontact with the little one "Why did you scream like that? Did you have a nightmare? Was it about mean old Ayeka trying to feed you peas again?"

She shook her head, with tears rolling down her face.

Tenchi, who had just picked himself up from the floor and was now rubbing his head, Came to sit by May's side together with Ryoko.

"I dreamed that I ate a whole plate full of peas, and it was yucky!" she cried.

Tenchi and Ryoko looked at eachother.

"So why did you scream so loud?" Tenchi put an arm around her gently stroking her back.

"Because..." she began. "Because when I looked down at the plate, it was full again!"

They couldnt resist laughing at the horrifying nightmare the little girl had just revealed.

Eventually, Mayuka maganed to calm down.

"And shes finally in dreamland... it only took her one hour to get the evil peas out of her head!" Ryoko chuckled and turned to Tenchi.

"Yeah, perhaps she doesnt need to eat them anymore. She might get scarred for life you know"

Ryoko laughed "Yeah like she isnt already scarred for life from living in this madhouse."

"Very true" They both laughed quietly, so they wouldnt wake up Mayuka.

Silence..

What had just happened dawned on Tenchi. The taste of Ryokos lips was still fresh in his memory. He felt guilty. What if he was just being caught up in the moment? He didnt want to hurt Ryoko for anything in the world. Not that he didnt like the kiss.. Heck! He had loved it. Being close to her...No he couldnt be feeling this! He shouldnt!

"Soo.." Tenchi began scratching the back of his head again. "We should probably get some sleep". He couldnt quite look at her. What if she was hurt? What if she was reading his mind or something? He looked over to Ryoko.

"U-huh..Yeah.. Im exhaused." Ryoko made her way to the bed and picked up a rubberband to tie her hair with.

Tenchi gently crawled down under the covers next to Mayuka again and rested his head on one hand, half laying down.

"Say Roko..." Tenchi began. "Maybe we should do something fun for Mayuka tomorrow, since we are all home together for the first time in a while. I bet she would really appreciate that."

"Thats a good idea! She'd love that" Ryoko turned around with her hands on her hips. "We'll ask her first thing tomorrow what she would like to do!" She smiled at him and slid under her covers as well.

Tenchi couldnt believe how confortable he felt around Ryoko tonight. He felt no pressure from her side at all, like he usually would whenerer being alone with her. Maybe removing Ryokos power was the best thing that could have happened. But Washu had promised to give them back as soon as Ryoko had learned to controll her actions. He kind of felt that he liked this Ryoko better.

Ryoko, on the other hand, was struggling very hard to cover up all of the overwhelming emotion that welled inside her. At that moment she felt like she was at peace with the whole world. Everything was forgiven, for Tenchi had kissed her tonight.

'Sure, might not have been longer than 2 seconds...'

She shrugged with the broadest smile that anyone could ever have on their face, and closed her eyes.

"Well goodnight.. tenchi." She mumbled. "Dont roll over and mash poor mayuka in your sleep.."

Tenchi could hear a distinct giggle from Ryokos bed.

"Very funny"

"I thought so" she teased. "You could always change beds if the risk is too big you know tenchi"

Tenchi recognized the tone Ryoko were using right now, and tried his best to ignore the thought of sleeping next to her.

"Dont worry, this will he alright!" He felt a bit of panic come rushing into his system. Maybe he had been to quick in judging Ryokos sudden change of temperament.

"Relax tenchi. Im just teasing." she said, turning her head the other way and closed her eyes. "The offer is still here though" a wicked grin spread across her face.

She loved the thought of having Tenchi near her when going off to sleep. She felt safe, and having Tenchi to herself like this was a big thing. And he had kissed her.

Tenchi laughed and tried not to sound nervous. "well, goodnight, Ryoko" He said, putting one hand on his forehead. He was warm. No wonder... She would just never give up, Ryoko. She knew how to push the right buttons. She really did. But he couldnt blame her tonight.

Soon they were both drifting off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

I'd like to start with a big THANK YOU for all your lovely reviews! If it wasn't for them, I probably wouldn't have gotten the inspiration to continue.. Kudos to you guys! Some of you gave me new ideas to this story I'm very thankful for, since this story was only supposed to be a one shot fic. But I changed my mind ;) Special thank to all of you. There will be a third chapter also. Big thanks to Darkpatu for helping me when I was stuck :)

The next morning began with a peaceful and soft rain. Tenchi woke up to the sound of raindrops, lightly tapping on the window next to him. This was soothing. The house was as calm and quiet as could be. He blinked his eyes and tried to get away the blur in his sight.

Waking up first in the Masaki residence was something special. The only thing that could be heard was the heavy breathing of the sleeping family. Tenchi just lay there for a moment, listening to the silence that lay over the whole house for the moment being.

He always tried to keep these moments for himself and enjoy them as long as they lasted. It wasn't that he hadn't grown to appreciate the sometimes turbulent and hectic atmosphere in the house, not at all, but sometimes, this was just what he needed to remember what the word "peace" really meant.

Tenchi suddenly remembered where he was when he felt Mayuka's hands tap on his face.

"Daddy... Good morning" She mumbled between yawns.

"Good morning May. Did you sleep well?" Tenchi brushed away a few strands from Mayuka's face. She would always twist and turn so much in her sleep that her hair covered almost all of her face.

"Yeah I did! And you know what? I dreamed that I fed you all with boiled peas and you hated it!" Mayuka stuck out her tongue at Tenchi and covered her face with her hands, peeking between fingers at her father.

"Well...I'm very happy for you May" He chuckled. Mayuka threw herself backwards and giggled wildly at this.

Tenchi was just about to lay down again when Mayuka popped the question. "Is mommy still sleeping?"

Tenchi's smile froze. He scratched his head and looked at her with concern.

"What do you mean May?" Tenchi had together with Ryoko and the rest of the family, talked with Mayuka about her real mother long time ago. It seemed like she understood everything and didn't reflect much on it. So who in the world did she mean?

Mayuka looked strangely at her father and said simply "Ryoko, silly". She looked at her father and blinked her eyes.

"Ry- Ryoko?" Tenchi stuttered. But realization wasn't far away. Why had he never understood this before? Ryoko was the one to stay home, nursing May while all of the other members of the family were busy with their jobs and duties. She was also the only one of the family who really didn't have anywhere else to go.

Now that Tenchi thought about it, she always stayed home with the little infant while Tenchi had to be in school for whole days. Once he got home, he often fell asleep immediately with half his body on the bed with clothes on, face down in the pillow. He felt guilty about it of course, but he never really thought about all of the work that she put into caring for his little daughter. And Ryoko treated her like... like her own. It wouldn't take a scientist to see how much she loved her self-given job.

"She looks so beautiful when she sleeps, daddy." Mayuka said yawning, closing her eyes again. She loved sleeping, which had been a real blessing for the family during her first years.

Tenchi couldn't say anything. His eyes were stuck on a light blue-haired girl who slept peacefully in the bed next to him. She really had changed, Ryoko. Ever since Mayuka came into their lives, the wild pirate had certainly calmed down quite a bit. Even if the fights with Ayeka weren't really a high priority anymore, they still occurred on the worst of times. But aside from that, she had matured in a way she probably wouldn't have if it hadn't been for Mayuka.

The door creaked open, and a small girl with blue hair and pigtails stuck her head into the room, to see Tenchi resting his head on his hand, lost in thought.

"Oh excuse me Tenchi" she whispered blushing. "Breakfast is ready. Could you please wake up Ryoko too?"

Sasami had been up all this time making breakfast? 'Boy she must have been really quiet not to wake up anybody.' Tenchi scratched the back of his head and removed the cover from himself and Mayuka.

"We'll be right down Sasami. Thank you." He smiled.

"Okay Tenchi! But don't be too late, or everything will get cold. Make sister Ryoko hurry too" She reminded before stepping out of the room.

Mayuka stretched and jumped down on the floor, slipping into the cabbit-slippers she got from Sasami last Christmas.

"I'm going down to help Sasami!" She chimed and before Tenchi knew it, Mayuka was gone.

Tenchi, who didn't have time to react to his daughters ideas, remained on the bed shaking his head with a pleased look on his face. Mayuka loved Sasami and was often found in the kitchen together with her, trying to learn Sasami's excellent cooking skills.

Tenchi could hear how Princess Ayeka and Kiyone was now making their ways past Tenchi's room and down the stairs, talking quietly to each other.

Then he looked at the sleeping girl. He could feel a lump in his throat as he remembered the evening before. Why had he done that? It was so wrong. But it just kind of... happened, as weird as that might sound. _'Well, time to get us both downstairs before Ayeka starts wondering where we are'_ he thought while rising from the bed. He walked over to Ryoko's side and gently squeezed her shoulder.

"Ryoko, it's time to get up now. Sasami has breakfast all ready for us you know".

Ryoko opened her eyes. She couldn't believe what she saw. "Tenchi?"

"Good morning sleepyhead" He smiled at her. "Mayuka and the others are already downstairs, so we should get going now."

Ryoko couldn't believe her eyes seeing Tenchi first thing in the morning. Usually, Sasami would be the one to wake her up. But this was too good to be true. Was she still dreaming? Back in the days, she used to watch Tenchi sleep from evening till dawn and also wake him up in the morning, which Tenchi found horrifying every single time. But here he was now...

"Are you coming?"

Ryoko snapped out of her trance and looked at the boy before her. "Oh... yeah... be right down" she mumbled, still looking rather surprised.

"I'll go down ahead. We should plan Mayuka day once we've gathered everyone for breakfast."

"As long as we don't play hide and seek, I'm all in" Ryoko yawned and rolled over to her stomach. "Now that I don't have my powers, it's gonna be a bore to try and find a good place to hide" she added and thought of all the times when she hid under the floor, near a seeking princess. Grabbing Ayeka's ankles, watching her scream and fall to the ground was obligatoric (obligatory?).

"He he he!...heh..."

"What are you laughing about?" The boy looked confounded.

"Oh nothing! You go ahead and I'll be right down!" she giggled with a somewhat wickedness to her voice.

Tenchi didn't bother to ask. He left to give her some time to get ready for the day. Once the door shut behind him, Ryoko sighed in contentment and rolled over to her back again, with arms stretched out over her head.

She felt so damn lucky. Thinking of the evening before, and to be awaken by the man she loved more than life itself, she knew this was the best day in her life so far. Nothing beat this! And Tenchi... He had kissed her. If only for a second, it was a real and tender one. And she knew she would keep it close to her heart until the end of time. Maybe this was all she would ever get from him? Right now, that didn't matter either. Having spent the night with Tenchi and Mayuka felt huge to her. She felt at home. For the first time in a long while.

'I could stay like this... and rest in this moment forever... but this won't do! I've gotta get ready for Mayuka!' she thought.

When Ryoko entered the kitchen, she saw that everyone had already taken their places and begun eating. Tenchi did his best not to look too much at her, instead pretending to have found something interesting in his bowl of soup feeling kind of weird, but Ryoko's eyes weren't on Tenchi at this moment.

Her usual place would be next to Tenchi, but today it was occupied by a clumsy blonde police officer. On a normal day, Ryoko would have muttered something and kicked Mihoshi off of the seat in annoyance. But today was oh, so different. She saw a chair next to Washu that was empty, and decided to take it instead. Washu was the first one to discover that something was different about her daughter.

"Little Ryoko?" Washu looked up at her daughter with a puzzled look.

"That would be me, yes" she didn't look at her mother.

"You are sitting next to me." She stated.

"And that's also true."

Even though the little scientist tried with all her might, she almost couldn't hold back her laughter.

"I have to admit, that was funny mom. How I wish I had your sense of humor." Ryoko frowned sarcastically and began sipping on her miso-soup.

Mihoshi suddenly remembered whose chair she was sitting on and darted away from it as if it was on fire.

"R-Ryoko! I'm so sorry Ryoko! I forgot, please forgive me for taking your seat again!" She cried, making gestures "It's all yours!"

Ryoko who was sitting on the other side of the table, raised an eyebrow at the desperate girl with a gentle smile.

"Take it easy why don't you Mihoshi! You can sit wherever you want!" she said as if it would have been the most obvious thing ever.

Nobody at the table could believe a word that they were hearing. Who was this girl? Ryoko gave up her place next to Tenchi to Mihoshi?

"Oh come on what y'all looking at? Today I felt like sitting next to my dear mother, cant a girl change her mind?"

The looks on the rest of the families' faces were priceless.

"Ryoko, dear. Are you feeling okay?" Ayeka looked suspiciously at the seemingly carefree girl in front of her.

"Yeah you don't seem quite like yourself today" Kiyone agreed, looking rather worried about how happy Ryoko seemed this early in the morning.

"You're drunk, aren't you?" Ayeka continued. At that, Ryoko had enough.

"Lay it off. Nothing is wrong with me." She said with a slightly irritated voice. "Now let's talk about today instead." She winked at Tenchi who was quick to pick up on this, and felt relieved that she had changed the subject.

"What do you guys say about having a play day for Mayuka? We aren't often gathered together like this, so I thought it would be a good idea to do something that includes May." Everyone cheered out loud and couldn't wait to start planning the day.

When everyone had eaten up and got dressed, the family gathered to decide what they would do.

"I'm glad I didn't get an emergency call tonight. I wouldn't want to miss this for anything!" Kiyone chimed and looked at Mayuka, who seemed even more excited than the whole crew together.

Sasami turned to Mayuka and got down on her knees to be on the same level as the little girl. "So Mayuka, you get to pick the first activity! What would you like to do?" The blue-haired girl smiled enthusiastically

May didn't have to think long. "HIDE AND SEEK!" she cheered and jumped up and down.

Ryoko crossed her arms and growled something about overrated game.

Ayeka turned to Ryoko with a wicked grin. "This has nothing to do with the loss of your beloved powers, now does it Ryoko?" The princess said sarcastically.

Ryoko turned furiously to Ayeka. "You saying I'm not smart enough to think of somewhere to hide without my powers?" she roared, gritting her teeth.

"Well, hiding under the floor isn't exactly an option for you at this time, is it? It's the only place you've been able to think of for the past 3 years!" The princess was having a good time for sure. There were times when she knew exactly which buttons to press that would make the space pirate go mad. Not having her powers to hand sure made her feel like half herself was gone.

"Hey hey ladies, must we have this conversation right now?" Tenchi stepped in between the two girls and pushed them apart from each other. "We're doing this for Mayuka, remember? Let's begin instead!"

"Yeah bring it on then! I'll show you princess!" Ryoko lifted up Mayuka in her arms and held her high "We will start the counting... ONE..!"

"Does this mean we hide now?" Mihoshi asked with an insecure smile.

Everyone had already snuck away before she reacted. "I guess that's what it meant!" she stated and ran towards the hallway.

'Good one Mihoshi.' Ryoko smiled to herself and counted quietly together with Mayuka.

"Alright everyone, that's 100! You won't be hiding for long 'cause here we come!" Ryoko warned and lifted Mayuka up to sit on her shoulders. "Are you ready kiddo?"

"What are we waiting for? Giddy-up!" Mayuka giggled and grabbed two strands from Ryoko's hair.

"Here we gooo!" The cyan-haired girl shrieked and darted for the hallway.

The first one to be found was of course, Mihoshi. Ryoko stopped in front of a big vase with bamboo plants that was placed next to the door. Ryoko wrinkled her brows.

"Mayuka, tell me. Does bamboo usually grow hair?" She giggled and looked up at May, who reached out and pulled on the blonde hair sticking out from both sides of the plant.

"Found'cha! Now you can help us look for the rest Mihoshi" May said happily.

"How ever did you find me?" the blonde police officer complained. "I really need to practice at this game" she hung her head.

"But you are the best seeker of the house, remember Mihoshi? You always find everyone in no time, no matter how good we think we've hidden ourselves" Ryoko reminded the disappointed girl. "And you're the next seeker after we've found everyone else! So just get over it and get on with it."

"Thanks Ryoko! You're right I guess!" The blonde cheered up and began searching for the hiding family.

And Ryoko wished that Mihoshi hadn't been the first one to find. The reason being that she found everyone so fast, Ryoko and Mayuka didn't stand a chance.

"Alright May, lets search through the kitchen, maybe there will be at least one person left for us to find before that lucky thing ends the game." the annoyed pirate mumbled.

She froze in a movement when she stepped into the kitchen to see everyone already found and gathered around the table. "Oh whatever.." Ryoko grabbed a hold of Mayuka's arms and lifted her down again.

"Mihoshi is next to stay here and count to one hundred!" Sasami said happily.

"Alright, I'll take May with me this time Ryoko" Washu held out her hand at the little girl. "Cause you wanna play with the greatest scientist of the whole universe right?" she smiled and put her other hand on her hip.

"Oh please mom. Think she cares?" Ryoko rolled her eyes and glared at her mother.

"Just you wait and see, little Ryoko. She is going to learn from the best of the best, and not turn out to be such a stubborn and ignorant girl like you my dear daughter." Washu stated proudly and winked at Mayuka.

Ryoko was on the verge of bursting out in anger, but held back for Mayuka, and thought it was probably best to ignore her bragging mother for today.

"He-he... alright! Mihoshi! Count!" Kiyone shouted. She and the rest left the kitchen to leave the police officer alone.

"Okkkay... one.. Two.. Three... Four... Five... Ooooh is that chocolate?"

Sasami crawled on the floor to get in under the couch, while Kiyone hid behind one of the curtains that hung all the way down to the floor. Washu and Mayuka ran hand in hand to the toilet and jumped in the tub, hiding behind the shower curtain.

"Fifty..." Ryoko could hear Mihoshi count out loud. _'Gotta find a good place, gotta find a good place_' she thought to herself while wandering around aimlessly. She really never had to find a particular spot to hide before. She would just phase through a wall or the floor, and she would rarely stay on the same spot the whole game though. ' _I actually have to try this time_' she thought, looking rather panicked.

"Eighty..." was heard from the kitchen.

_'Aaahhh! I can't still be running around when Mihoshi's ready! Where do I hide? Where?_'

Ryoko made no success in finding a place in the living room or the hallway. Instead she ran up the stairs to hide in one of the bigger closets. ' If I put on Noboyuki's trench coat, hat and his boots, she'll never find me hahaha! ' She thought with an evil grin.

"Ninety..." a very distinct voice said.

Ryoko snatched the first closet door open to see there wasn't enough room for her. _'What the!_' She started running towards another door that could be the right one. She couldn't remember! '_Stupid game_! '

"One hundred!" Mihoshi bawled from the kitchen. "Here I come!"

Ryoko could hear footsteps and a light humming from downstairs. Damn! Just then, she saw the other closet. With the smooth movements of a cat, going to attack, Ryoko made her way to the door and opened it. Just as she entered the dark space, Ryoko's sock got stuck in a nail that stuck up from the doorstep. She lost her balance and fell headlong into the darkness with a gasp. Then it all got quiet. It was dark. Her hands were resting on something that felt like shoulders and she was leaning onto someone. Someone a little taller than her. Someone warm. She froze in shock.

"Ryoko?" a voice said.

She tried to adjust her eyes to the dark, but somehow it didn't seem as easy as when she had her powers. Would this affect her senses too? Ryoko had never feared the dark before. It used to be almost like daylight! But now she couldn't see!

"Tenchi? Is that…you?" her voice somewhat shaky.

"Yeah. I thought no one else would think of this place…heh...but I guess I was wrong, huh?" he laughed nervously.

Ryoko could only nod.

There was tighter of space than Ryoko had pictured the closet to be. She and Tenchi stood in-between Noboyuki's many coats and shirts hanging from above.

Their eyes slowly adjusted more and more to the dark, and soon Ryoko could see the outlines of a young boys face. He seemed awkwardly nervous.

They could hear the voice of Mihoshi and some of the found hiders from downstairs.

"It's kind of warm in here... Isn't it?" Tenchi whispered. He couldn't quite look at her.

The sound of Mihoshi running up the stairs broke the silence on the upper floor and made Tenchi loose his balance. With one movement, he managed to grab a hold of at least three coats hanging from their gallows, taking Ryoko with him in the fall. They hit the floor with a thump.

The former space pirate opened her eyes. She felt a heavy weight on top of her and found that she was covered in cloth. But that wasn't all. Tenchi's head was resting right next to hers, face down.

"Oww..." he muttered trying to lift himself up with his arms to see what happened. He shook his head and looked down on Ryoko who looked quite uncomfortable. He suddenly realized he was lying on top of her, and flushed furiously.

"Ryoko, I'm sorry I..."

He got interrupted by her finger, lightly pressed against his mouth "Shhhh... She will find us" She whispered fearfully trying to pick up any sound of someone walking outside.

"I don't think she's found everyone just yet, But If I know that genius well enough, she will be here any minute"

Tenchi's eyes slowly began to adjust in the pitch black closet, allowing him see outlines of certain things. One of them was the face of a girl who lay on the hard floor under him. Even though he couldn't see her expression, he felt her body move up and down in heavy breaths.

"Tenchi.. It's so dark in here.. I don't like it. Because I don't have the access to my powers anymore my eyes don't adjust very well.. Maybe I should just ..."

"Be quiet, Ryoko..." he breathed. "I'll try to get up and maybe hide in a different room"

Tenchi helped himself up with his arms but stopped in a movement, when he suddenly heard Mihoshi's voice from downstairs.

"I found you!"

Without even knowing how it happened, Tenchi's clumsiness took over again. His left arm gave away and made him fall back on top of Ryoko, making his head jerk backwards and then forward like a whip. With a pang, their heads clonked together, making them both pass out for just a moment. The couple lay there for a few seconds, both groaning in pain. Tenchi slowly opened his eyes and immediately became aware of something.

Ryoko's lips were in contact with his own.

'...Oh gods!'

Ryoko moaned in pain as she too opened her eyes, blinking them a few times, before letting out a faint gasp.

"Tenchi..?" She breathed against his lips, feeling his warm breath gently mingling with her own.

The boy heard that voice in his mind again, telling him how terribly wrong this whole thing was. And how well didn't he know that the voice was completely right?

It would cause a world war four in the Masaki house, and Ayeka would probably hang them both! And…there would be total chaos. More than there already were.

... Would it be so bad?

Ryoko was sure Tenchi would now back off and run for it, run the hell away from her and leave her alone in the dark. But instead, he leaned in to kiss her.

Time stopped and everything seemed to happen in slow-motion.

The woman was in a state of chock. She was so surprised at this, she didn't even dare answering the kiss.

Sure, Tenchi had thought about how it would be to kiss Ryoko, but wasn't at all prepared for the overwhelming sensation rushing through his body at this sudden contact. His lips trembled against hers, feeling so damn nervous he could just die right there and then.

All of the tension in Ryoko's body seemed to disappear as she too leaned fully into the kiss, giving Tenchi all her attention. And it was just the way she had always imagined it to be. Kissing Tenchi felt like a dream. Even though she felt how new he was to this, it still was what made it perfect. She moaned softly as he reached to cup her cheek with one hand, drawing her in to deepen the kiss. But then he suddenly stopped, breaking their contact.

"Ryoko.. I think I heard something"

"They must be in here guys! It's the very last spot! I've looked everywhere!" Mihoshi's desperate voice was heard outside of the closet in which Tenchi and Ryoko lay, underneath a pile of clothes, covering the secret.

They could hear her footsteps coming closer and before they knew it, Mihoshi snatched the door open to the closet.

They both closed their eyes shut and held their breaths. What is they would be found like this? Ayeka would go nuts! And how would they ever explain why they were laying on the floor underneath a pile of clothes together? Tenchi's mind went blank. He was doomed.

"Nope, not in here." Mihoshi stated in a sad voice. "What a mess. Noboyuki should take better care of his coats!"

Tenchi couldn't believe his ears when he heard the door slam shut.

They looked up at the door, and then turned to look at each other.

"She didn't bother to search through in here? Why didn't she take a better look?" Ryoko gave Tenchi a puzzled look.

"I... don't know."

Ryoko felt something build up inside of them. One look at each other, and no one could remain silent anymore. They burst into silent, but relieved laughter.

Back downstairs, the family was now getting worried that something might have happened to the two of them.

"What worries me, is that Tenchi is missing, and so is Ryoko!" Ayeka was crawling around on the floor, looking underneath the couch.

"But I hid under the couch sister, so I doubt any of them would have been there without me knowing" Sasami said smiling at her big sister, who didn't smile back.

"I just know Ryoko is up to something now that she got the chance!"

Washu and Kiyone, who was found first, had passed out on the couch long time ago.

"Tenchi! Ryoko!" Sasami called out. "Come out now, we're tired of searching for you!"

Mihoshi joined in and called out with all of her might "RYOKO! TENCHI!"

"Yeah yeah yeah, what are you all shouting about? We are right here!" Ryoko said simply as she and Tenchi came walking down the staircase together.

Everyone just stared at the couple.

"This is weird guys. Where did you hide? I looked everywhere upstairs" Mihoshi was confounded.

Ryoko peeked over at Tenchi and smiled "Well I was under my bed. And Tenchi was under his. Didn't you look?"

"I'm pretty sure I did! But then again, I could be wrong I suppose.." Mihoshi stammered.

Ryoko was quick to interrupt the poor girl "Yeah I suppose you were! Now let's play a different game!"

Ayeka glared at the girl. She felt something wasn't completely right here. But she couldn't put a finger on what it could be. It couldn't..? No.. That's not possible. The princess let the thought go for now. After all, Tenchi wouldn't sneak away with that loud woman. She felt at peace for the moment and decided her mind was playing tricks on her.

Washu narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her daughter. Ryoko had forced her to close the mental link between them, which made it impossible for her mother to sneak into her mind. It wasn't her business and she knew it. Her constant intruding and teasing had led to this. Ryoko threatened her to never speak to her again if she didn't shut the damn link down right there and then. Washu was too afraid not to. After it was done, they hadn't really had much of a talk.

She knew she would have to talk to Ryoko about it sooner or later. The little scientist snapped out of the thought as she heard Ayeka's voice.

"Let's ask Mayuka what she would like to do next" she chimed.

The play day was a success. After a peaceful picnic in the forest, a bath in the onsen and a few more games of hide and seek, the day came to its end. Everyone was tired but happy to have spent the whole day together, enjoying each other's company fully.

Sasami and her sister were the first ones to be sound asleep in their room, with Mihoshi and Kiyone not far behind.

Tenchi was still sitting on the couch downstairs in the living room. He didn't really look forward to tomorrow. The roof still needed to be fixed until the big rainstorm would come. He rested his arms on his legs, lowering his head with a sigh.

Yesterday, he would have done anything to sleep on the couch instead of being forced to sleep upstairs with Ryoko. He had felt helpless at the time. But now he couldn't think of anything he would like more. Being with Mayuka while she drifted off to sleep had been so nice. He didn't do that often anymore and he had missed it greatly. Also, the thought of sleeping in the same room as Ryoko wasn't unthinkable.

Ryoko sat on her bed, wearing a simple T-shirt that reached down to her knees. She was just making a bun of her hair putting it up with a rubber band, when she turned around to see Tenchi at the door.

"Hey Tenchi. So I guess you're taking the couch today huh?" She said trying to sound cheerful. She wasn't.

He scratched the back of his head. "I.. actually thought it would be best for Mayuka if.. I spent the night in here tonight as well. If you don't mind"

'_If I don't mind? Ha! He could sleep in my bed if he wanted!'_ She thought to herself with a relieved look on her face.

"No come on in Tenchi. You know you're always welcome to sleep here" she grinned.

Tenchi walked over to Mayuka's bedside and looked down on his beautiful sleeping daughter. She was so peaceful.

"Looks like she's having good dreams tonight huh? He said smiling, trying not to think of the earlier event that day. He still wasn't sure whether it happened or not. Half hoping it hadn't.

Ryoko rose from her bed and walked over to stand next to him. "She's such a beauty."

"You know, Ryoko." be began hesitatingly "Mayuka... she .."

He felt a loss of words as he thought of the earlier event. He pulled the cover over Mayuka's shoulders and smiled.

"She... sees you as her mother."

Ryoko's eyes grew wide as she took her hands to her cheeks and flushed mildly. The warmth of her hands was nothing compared to the heat now spreading across her face.

"Yes.. She calls me that..." She smiled. "I didn't want to tell any of you. Perhaps someone would dislike it." she said, trying to sound cheerful again.

"I understand why you didn't want to tell anyone." He said comforting. "Both you and I know what would happen. Especially Ayeka would find it heavy to bare I think."

Ryoko glanced at Tenchi with a nod. "She would alright. Those princesses have been a big part of May's life as well. Even I have been jealous at times when I've seen them together. Since she's not really my daughter, I can't help but feel threatened at times, even though I know how completely selfish it is. She loves us all in different ways. It's so complicated." She looked out the window. "I wish that Mayuka was my own sometimes".

Tenchi felt he had to somehow respond to this, but didn't know how. She deserved to hear it. He reached out and gently took Ryoko's hand in his. Ryoko, who was lost in thought for a second, turned to the boy in shock.

"I think you make a great mother to Mayuka."

Ryoko narrowed her eyes slightly, not knowing exactly what to say. Standing there with Tenchi's hand in hers like this felt unreal. "You...You mean it?" She asked with distrust.

"Yes."

Ryoko, the feared space pirate, once controlled and manipulated to destroy whole planets and watch them burn. The daemon that roamed the galaxy for centuries on missions of her controller. The monster that frightened even the strongest of space soldiers. Most wanted criminal on the Galaxy Polices list. Yeah. That was the story of her life and what she was known and feared for. She wasn't proud, not even a little.

That wasn't her life anymore, but there would always be an image of hatred against her. For what she had done. For all the pain she had caused to other people. But since she moved into the Masaki Residence eight years ago, she had learned how good things in life could be. So good she could never had imagined it. Tenchi had saved Ryoko from herself and let her into his life.

He treated her with nothing but respect and loyalty ever since the first day. Sure, he was often frustrated with her back then for obvious reasons, such as trying to sneak in bed with him against his will. But all that had toned down as well, and he stopped to pull away from her. He was all that she would ever want in this life, all she would possibly need. Ever.

"Tenchi"

Ryoko just stared at him, and small teardrop formed in the corner of her eye. She could see that Tenchi wasn't making this up. He looked at her with such honesty and sincerity, in a way that only he could.

"I really do think so Ryoko, and you deserve to hear it. Because everyone knows how you struggle to make things go together when you are alone with May. She needs a mother like you in her life to teach her all that's important, and someone who can make her stand up for herself. No one does that better than you, Ryoko." Tenchi said softly as he wiped away the teardrop in her eye.

"I do my best.. To be as much of a mother as I possibly can."

"You're doing great. You two complete each other somehow and she looks up to you so much. You're her hero and role model, it's not hard to see." He chuckled. "Soon, she will probably want to dye her hair like yours."

Ryoko laughed heartily at this. "Maybe. But at least my hair isn't as wild as it used to be a few years ago. It has kind of lost a bit of it's spikiness through the years." She said, feeling her hair with one hand. Her hair looked pretty much like before, only it was a bit sleeker and longer than it used to be.

"It always fit you well. It resembles you and the way that you have changed since Mayuka came into our lives."

"I guess you are right Tenchi. I do feel like I've grown a bit over the past years. There just isn't room for any drama or fights with May here, which felt weird at first, but now I couldn't imagine a life without what we have now."

Then she smirked "But Ayeka still is too much fun to tease to just leave it alone sometimes. What would I ever do without her to keep the laughter coming?" she snickered quietly to herself. "But don't worry, Tenchi. I won't be able to use my powers for a while anyway." she said cheerfully looking at him.

"You miss them?"

"Well.. It's still weird not to have them to hand. It feels like something's constantly missing you know? And I also feel a lot more toned down without them. But when I think of it, there has not really been any bad things coming out of it, only good."

"I'm glad you feel that way Ryoko. Washu only wanted what was best for you when she made the decision. It wasn't easy for her considering what happened."

Ryoko looked out the window again "Yeah I know. I understand, but she always makes me tick you know? Like mothers usually do. And she's such a joker! I just can't stand her sometimes even though I know how much it hurts when I ignore her." She sighed and chuckled at this.

"I think it's time for both of us to get some sleep now, don't you?" he yawned loudly with one hand covering his mouth.

Ryoko smiled and nodded at the boy standing beside her, still holding her hand. "I could stay up, but you look tired Tenchi"

"Come on, let's get some rest so we're alert and ready to take care of May tomorrow. It's only going to be you, me and Washu until later in the evening, so we can't be tired."

"Oh, where are the others going?"

"Ayeka and Sasami are going into town to get some shopping done for the upcoming winter. Mihoshi and Kiyone had to do the same apparently."

"Oh I see, then it's you and me bathing May tomorrow" She said happily.

"We need to be two?"

Ryoko snickered softly again "You'll see Tenchi. You'll see"

She felt how Tenchi began pulling her closer to him. He looked at her with intense eyes as their bodies met. He let go of her hand and instead wrapped his arms around her, closing his hands together behind her back. Ryoko instinctively moved her arms up and wrapped them around his neck as they met in a warm embrace.

She felt his breath close to her ear as he whispered softly "Goodnight, Ryoko."

Was this a dream? Ryoko mentally shook her head and rested her chin on the boys' shoulder. He was here and for real.

"Goodnight.. Tenchi. Thank you."

He moved his hands to her waist and pulled away so he could look her in the eyes. "No, thank you." he said seriously as he brushed a few strands away from her forehead.

"I..." she swallowed hard not to lose focus while being so close.

"Let's sleep now" he gently removed her hands from his shoulders and took them down in his.

"Yes... " She mumbled.

"Are you okay Ryoko?"

She gave him the biggest grin "I'm more than okay Tenchi."

The content former space pirate let go of the boys hands and turned around smiling, walking towards her bed. "Are you coming?" she asked in a low, hoarse voice.

Tenchi winched where he was standing "C..Coming? ...Coming where?" he asked in a nervous tone.

She turned around to look over her shoulder "To the forest with me and May tomorrow" she said and gave him a wink.

"Ahh... oh... yeah well... sure!" He chuckled nervously and tried to look unaffected by her sudden question.

Ryoko sat down and crawled under her covers "What did you think I meant?" a wicked smile played on her lips.

"Nothing!"

She watched him hurry to crawl down in his own bed and turn off the lights.

The darkness would have made Ryoko tense up tonight, if it wouldn't have been for the faint light of the full moon that shone in on them from the outside. She had never felt so much love in her whole life.

End of chapter 2! I cannot believe I wrote so much this time! I couldn't stop xD

Anyway, it's thanks to YOU guys that I found the inspiration to write this. I'm starting to love writing about Ryoko and Tenchi. Please tell me what you thought of this chapter. Another one will be out soon!

MUCH LOVE


	3. Chapter 3

Ryoko felt something wet being planted on the tip of her nose, wich she wrinkled with a sigh, eyes still closed tight. Half asleep, she reached out from under the covers and tried to wipe away whatever there was.

A few seconds passed before Ryoko once again feelt the same thing, only now it was placed on her chin instead. This time, something pinched her nosedrils together, making it extremely hard to breathe.

Ryoko snatched her eyes open with a gasp, trying to catch her breath as she sat up in the bed. Mayuka was sitting on top of her, pinching her nose with her small but rather strong hands.

"You're awake mommy! I kissed you! Did you notice?" Mayuka chimed when she saw Ryoko, whos' eyes tried its best to focus on the little girl with the messy moring-hair.

Ryoko drowsily growled something before she let her body fall back down to the pillow. Mayuka fell off from her place when her mother turned to lay on her side, wich made her roll all the way down to the end of the bed.

With a frown she rolled around a few times before she got up on her knees and crawled up to lay beside the tired woman, where distinct snores could be heard from under the covers.

"You're snoring." Mayuka said in an annoyed tone as she peeked over Ryokos shoulder. The little infant loved to sleep alright, but once she woke up, she often did her best to make sure no one else in the house got any further sleep eather. The same pretty much happened when Mihoshi decided to wake up before the rest, to Mayukas delight.

The seven year old girl gently leaned in closer to Ryoko's face and gave her a clumsy kiss on the cheek. Much to Mayukas surprise, her mother reacted differently to this third kiss as she flinched with yet another gasp before she shot up from her bed.

"Ohhh Tenchi you really think so?" Ryoko had her voice set on the sweetest tone imaginable, and her hands were folded together to her chest. Mayuka could have sworn her mother's eyes had a thousand stars in them.

"Ummm.. Mom?" Mayuka tapped Ryoko's cheek with her hand as she tried to get in contact with the confused woman.

Realisation struck Ryoko where she sat staring out in the room. She felt completely dumbstruck as she got aware of what she had just said.

Two blue eyes grew wide in curiosity. "What was it that dad thinks? What are you talking about?"

Ryoko relaxed her tense shoulders and rolled her head in a circle, hearing the bones in her body crach as she streached out, giving May a soft smile.

"Could'nt you have waited just one more hour? Or wait.. make it two." She chuckled, grabbing the little girl with one arm and gave her already messy hair, a good ruffle.

"Aooch mommy! Not so hard! My hair gets so electric you know!" She complained between laughs. "I'll get back at you! Im just as stong as you, you know!" Mayuka howled as she tried to get out of Ryoko's firm grip.

"Ohhh Im so scared, you know!" Ryoko teased as she swung Mayuka around, gently throwing her on her back with her head on the pillow. She placed her hands on each of Mayukas wrists, making it impossible for the little girl to move them.

"What did you say again? Mommy did'nt quite hear you the first time!" Ryoko teased, baring her fangs while pretending she couldnt hear. But the victory did'nt last long. Mayuka still had her legs free, and kicked them wildly with all her might, hoping to hit some part of her defeater.

"Ohh wait here! Are you kicking your own mother May? Now I must say that's not the behavior we have taught you! But Its time I teach you one good less..." Ryoko's pretend-lecture, was replaced by a weak groan of pain. Ryoko quickly let go of Mayukas wrists and held her hands tight to her chest, with a face twisted in pain. Mayuka had hit right on spot this time. But she saw Mayuka's big and upset eyes, Ryoko just could'nt let her sit there and think she seriously injured her. A weak smile formed on Ryopko's lips.

"He-hehe.. Guess you found my weak part huh Or should I say, one of them.. heh-hee ..oouch!" she tried to laugh, still holding her hands close to her aching chest.

Mayuka looked at her mother with worried eyes. "Did I injure you, mommy?" She said, with sighns of tears welling up in the corner of her eyes.

Ryoko gave Mayuka her warmest of looks, one that anyone else so rarely got to see, and drew her into a loving embrace. "You could'nt do that even of you tried May. I'll be alright, I promise! It just hurts alot at first. I wont feel a thing later on! You will know what Im talking about when you are a little older, and you will have a pair of your own.." She gave Mayuka an assuring wink.

"I want to grow up now! I wanna be like you mom!"

Ryoko blushed slightly at this. She was never unaffected by the little girl.

"No you don't" She laughed before she spun around and got off the bed. "Just trust me on that one love".

The former space pirate had woken up today feeling like a new person. Maybe she was able to take in even more of the overwhelming love from her little girl now that things had worked out the way they did, with her loss of powers and everything.

It somehow brought out a new side of her. A calmer, happier side.. that made her feel more... normal? Yeah.. Always had she felt different, eventhough Ayeka and the others were'nt exactly what people from Earth would call normal, with their extreme haircolors and super advanced gadgets. Phasing though walls, re-appearing and aiming energyballs, mostly at Ayeka, had been an everyday thing for Ryoko. Also, her extreeme senses made her feel like she was'nt completely a part of the family. But now that they were also toned down quite a bit, all her feelings of not belonging, had gone away together with her powers. And she... liked it?

Ryoko turned around to see if Tenchi had a heartattack from her and May's pretend-fight yet. But she was stunned to see that he was still sound asleep, with half his face covered up.

Light breaths could be heard from under the covers as his body rythmicly rised and sank. He looked ever so peaceful.

'You teased me good in that dream you...'She tought to herself. ' Too bad We did'nt have a chance to continue it.. Hehee.'

She was interrupted when she felt Mayuka tugg on her T-shirt. "Mommy, Lets make a surprise breakfast for daddy. Something special!" She whispered.

Ryoko gave her a weak smile and sighed.

"Hmm... Thats a cool idéa May.. It really is. But.. I hate to say it. I can't cook very well you know. Cereal?" She scratched her head and looked somewhat bothered. She hated to admit her weaknesses. Especially when it was about houseshores. Her intention the past years had been to learn how to be a housewhife and hopefully gain a few points over Ayeka. 'That damn princess is hard to beat when it comes to stuff like that.' She thought to herself, clenshing her fist.

"But you cook for me when we are home alone for weeks you know. Don't you remember?" May raised an eyebrow and moved her hands to her hips, managing to look very mature. "I think you make delicious meals!"

"You're right as always, I do cook for you. but if you want something fancy I might not be the sharpest knife." Ryoko sat down on her kne to face Mayuka. "Could you help me?" She whispered, looking quite ashamed asking a seven year old girl to help her cook decent food. Ryoko had seem glimpses of May in the kitchen together with Sasami on various ocations, and seen her prepare both this and that.

"You mean it? Ofcourse I can! I'll show you something Sasami taught me how to make. Oh boy you're gonna love this!" The girl giggled and jumped up and down. She was excited to show Ryoko all the varieties of dishes that she had learnt from their young chef.

"Oh great kiddo, but we must be quiet now so we wont wake up your daddy. Ok?" She hushed with one finger to her lips.

Mayuka pretended to zip her mouth shut and looked up at her mother with serious eyes.

"That a girl" Ryoko patted Mayuka on her head before she walked over to her closet to pick out some comfortable clothes for the day.

'Its kind of nice to do this by hand' She thought as she took out a pink dress from its gallow and slid it over her head. From a round box, in wich she kept all accesories, she found a small scarf in the same color as the dress, that she tied around her head with a bow.

She walked over to her makeuptable and twirled intront of the mirror before she took a closer look. "Yup! That's one good looking babe!" She winked at her reflection and turned around to Mayuka.

"Lets go down and prepare that special breakfast for daddy before he wakes up and ruins our plans, right?" Ryoko said and reached out her hand to her.

"Mhmm!" She said, nodding with a big smile, mouth still closed like a clam as she took Ryoko's hand.

"Ehhh-hehehe.. You silly girl"

Ryoko walked towards the door with confident steps, keeping Mayuka close to her side.

Ryoko's mind was somewhere else this morning, to say the least.

A weak cry came from Ryoko as she marched right into the door, making her fall backwards to the floor, taking Mayuka with her in the fall.

'Stupid stupid stupid me! I still DON'T have any POWERS!' She cursed to herself, rudding her nose in pain and embarrasment.

"R..yoko... is th..at ...you?" the sleepy voice of a boy was hear from behind them.

'Shhhii-!' Ryoko quickly picked herself and Mayuka up from the floor, snatched the door open and bolted out from the room with Mayuka half flying behind her. They shut the door close with yet another loud slam, making Tenchi jerk awake, realising too late how close to the edge of the bed he was. He fell helplessly to the floor with a loud grunt.

"Owwww...what the?" He rubbed his head as he looked around the room, trying to locate what had awoken him so sudden. "Ryoko?" He asked, peeking up over her bedside. But she was'nt there, and neather were Mayuka.

"Guess they could'nt be quiet huh.." Tenchi muttered as he picked himself up, grabbed a pair of jeans and a lightgreen T-shirt from a chair and started to get dressed.

His morning mood did'nt get any better when he felt a faint ache in his throat as he swallowed. On top of that, when he tried to breath thought his nose, he found that it was completely clogged.

'Great.. I've caught a cold. Must be because of all the hard training grandpa put me through this past week.' he thought folding his arms around him. 'Just what I need today that Im gonna fix the rest of the roof. Ryoko should be the one to do it really...' He regretted that last thought abit, but he could'nt help but feeling like he should'nt be the one to always fix everything. 'When school starts again in two weeks, I wont have any time to repair all of the stuff that breaks around here. And I wont have as much time to spend with May eather..' He sighed and made his way to the door, but found that it was quite hard to get it open. Almost as if it was stuck. A trail of wooden chippings could be found underneath the door as a sighn of someone being abit too rough when closing it. Tenchi chuckled nervously. 'He-hee.. I guess she's pretty strong even withot her powers!'

Tenchi took a firm grip around the handle and snatched it open. A cloud of dust and more chippings flew around him as he walked out and walked down the stairs.

He entered the kitchen just in time to watch seven year old Mayuka teaching Ryoko how to set the oven on the right temperatures. Ryoko's somewhat confused expression was priceless. Tenchi had to stop in the doorway not to disturb the ongoing lecture between the two of them. He's did'nt want to ruin this moment for anything.

"Do you see, huh? So thats basicly how you do it if you don't want to ruin the food, you know" The small girl stated matter of factly. She was looking extreemely important with her hands on her hips. "I actually came up with these dishes myself! I mixed abit of this and that, and Sasami says that I really do have a talent for cooking." She added proudly.

Ryoko on the other hand, felt like a complete idiot for not knowing such basic things. And even worse, she was reminded of all the times when she burnt the food that she had prepared for herself and Mayuka when being stuck alone at home for weeks at a time! Cooking just was'nt Ryokos thing and she knew it. But these were really delicious stuff that Mayuka wanted to teach her mother, and if only Ryoko would learn how to prepare them before Ayeka, it was all good.

"Say, you have'nt passed any of this further to that princess now, have you?" Ryoko eyed Mayuka with a nervous grin.

Mayuka shook her head. "Nope! This is just between you and me mom. Cant spread my secret recipies to everyone you know!" She said seriously.

"Good girl Mayuka!" Ryoko hummed and tasted a spoon of the soup that herself and Mayuka had prepared together. It was delicious really. Ryoko could'nt remember when she tasted quite a soup like this. It even tasted better than the one Sasami used to make.

"Oh and by the way May..." Ryoko sat down on her knees took a light grip around May's arms. "Think you could possibly show me how to use the washingmachine after breakfast?" She looked embarassed as ever. "I have never used it"

Tenchi was still standing in the doorway, trying to make up his mind wether he should enter or not. But he did'nt have to decide for long as he felt something itching his throat. He started coughing wildly with one hand to his mouth before stumbling into the kitchen. Both girl looked up to see Tenchi wobble around, trying to catch his breath.

"Daddy!"

Mayuka reacted fast and quickly poured a glass of water that she handed to Tenchi, who started to look as if he was going to choke from the attack. He sat down, swept it all at once and gurgled between coughs, until the itchyness eventually gave in and gave Tenchi a chance to breathe.

"Are you Okay daddy?" Mayuka looked concerned.

Tenchi rose to his feet, placing his hands on his knees, still panting abit before he took a deep breath and looked up at Mayuka, who twisted and turned her head to try and look him in the eyes.

He laughed at her cute expression and ruffled her hair.

"Im fine May, but I do think I caught a nasty cold. I just hope none of you will get it too since we've all slept in the same room the past nights." He turned to Ryoko as he said this.

She looked startled "H-hey.. You know I never get sick. Its not even possible and besides, I dont even know what it feels like to have a cold. So dont worry about me Tenchi." Ryoko said as she looked away.

Tenchi got the feeling that this reaction had to do with the massive advantage Ryoko had when it came to mental health. He was well aware that the former pirate had no interest what so ever in talking about her differences. He was just about to appoligise to her when he decided to just let it slip to avoid upsetting her more.

"Ohh. Okay then. I just hope I wont get any worse after I've repaired the rest fo the roof later." He sighed and smoothly changed the subject.

"It sure smells good in here! What is it you are making?" He asked with genuine interest.

Mayuka giggled mysteriously and pointed at Tenchi. "Its a surpsire for you daddy! Its my own secret recipie that Im only willing to share with some people." She gave Ryoko a wink "Right? And you know what daddy? Ryoko did most of the job today actually, and she's doing really great learning these delicious dishes!"

"Wow Ryoko" Tenchi said with admirance. "Im really proud of you!"

A furious tone of red started spreading across Ryoko's face as she giggeled nervously, wiping the sweatdrops of off her forehead while trying to look normal.

"Well, ya know. Gotta learn sometime!"

Something that could have been a laugh slipped out from Ryokos throat. She was so innocent. Almost like a child in situations like this. Tenchi found himself smiling at her desperate try to gain back her composure.

No matter how good she was at hiding her true emotions, wich she otherwive easily did, when it came to Tenchi Ryoko knew that she did'nt stand a chance.

"Your face is red" Mayuka pointed out to Ryoko who managed to gain an even more intense tone of red.

"Red? Who's red?" Ryoko chimed."No one's red! Come on now lets eat before it all gets cold! Why don't you help me setting the table dear May?"

Ryoko were already on her way carrying téacups and plates to the table, making a great effort to calm down again. Mayuka told Tenchi to go and sit down while she took out the food itself. "Cover your eves! And no peeking!" she ordered her father.

Ryoko chuckled softly as she sat down and watched the little girl carry all of the pots herself out to the table. She lost count long time ago of all the times she actually forgott Mayukas age. It was hard to believe that the little infant was no older that seven, and still she was so mature and clever. Sometimes Ryoko was stunned over how well she handled living in the Masaki Residence and everyting that came with it. 'Its a good thing for me and Ayeka she never took after our behaviour. Boy, that would have really screwed her up big time' She thought to herself. 'Ofcourse it would'nt hurt if she took after me though. I'd teach May juuust the right ways to push Ayeka's buttons'

"Ryoko, whats up? We lost you for a moment there." Tenchi said as he narrowed his eyes in a curious manner.

The girl snapped out of her daydreams and found that both Tenchi and Mayuka were staring at her from their seats.

"Oh nothing! I was just thinking about the outdoor picnic we're gonna have later on!" Ryoko said simply.

"You looked kind of evil too" Mayuka added and mimiced the expression with great success.

Tenchi could'nt help but laugh at his daughters observation.

"Now give Ryoko a break May, and lets see what you two have been cooking all morning, shall we?" Tenchi patted Mayukas head and gave Ryoko a soft glance.

The breakfast went on smoothly with smalltalk and laughter, before it was time to clean off the table, and time for Tenchi to hit the roof before the dark clouds would come even closer than it already was.

"I'll be back in a while Ryoko. I have to get this done before dawn orelse we're soon gonna have an indoor pool in my room." Tenchi said with a troubled look.

Ryoko nodded. She felt so guilty about Tenchi climbing up on the roof to repair a damagde that she herself had caused. Ofcourse she would easily switch jobs with Tenchi and have him taking care of May instead. But if Tenchi's Grandfather would find out about it, there would probably be trouble since Ryoko had promised not to go near the roof until Tenchi was done.

"You know I'd do it for you anyday Tenchi, but your grandfather is one old pathetic jerk sometimes. He must really hate having me around the house." She frowned.

Tenchi shook his head in disagreement. "I know he's might have overreacted about this whole thing Ryoko, but he also got scared for the sake of Mayuka. You know how he is about her safety. A bit like an overprotective father kind of. Just give him some time hey."

"So you're saying you're on his side now huh?" She crossed her arms with a snort, looking quite displeased.

"No that's not at all what I said Ryoko. Please don't make this harder than it is. All I'm saying is that he had reasons. And if you think about it, you know its true. You would probably do a better and faster job than me, but he just had enough. And he always says that everyone needs to learn a good lesson at times. Trust me Ryoko, I know. But also true, he's a stubborn old man sometimes with his own principles and values. Lets not think about that now okay?" Tenchi said trying to cheer her best he could. She needed it, he could tell. "This will all be over by tonight and Washu will probably be willing to give your powers back any day now."

"Yeah.. Powers.." She mumbled looking down. She realised she needed to talk to her mother about something important.

"Hey you, are you feeling alright?" Tenchi did'nt expect this reaction from her. He was just about to approach her, when she let her eyes meet his.

"Dont worry about me sweetness." She smiled. "I'll just take the leftovers down to Washu's lab now, before it all gets ruined."

Not quite knowing what to make of Ryoko's odd behaviour, Tenchi shrugged. "I'll see you in a bit then."

"Don't forget we're going on that picnic when you're done. Mayuka has blabbed about it all morning." Ryoko said as she waved to Tenchi and turned to help Mayuka with the dishes.

He found his fathers portable ladder in the shed, wich had become really old and rusty, but had worked fine all these years. He also grabbed his fathers toolbox and made his way around the house.

At the same time, Ryoko had just taken care of the leftovers from breakfast and put it all on a wooden tray, ready to make a visit at her mothers laboratorium. Normaly, Ryoko did'nt ponder very much about what her mother did to live down in her lab, since she was'nt one of the regulars around the dinnertable. But today there was something that needed to be discussed, something that had been on Ryoko's mind the past couple of days. Not really sure if she wanted to have a chat about anything at all with Washu, she paused infront of the red door that sometimes led to the storageroom, depending on Washu. She argued with herself for a moment before considering herself defeat. With a deep and audiable sigh, she knocked on the door with a determined fist.

Washu's head popped up on the door-screen right before Ryoko's face.

"Come on in little Ryoko. Its open. Did you come to make your mothers day huh?"

The door clicked and swung open with a shy creak.

"Oh gods, Give me a break..." Ryoko grumbled to herself. She stepped into the room and closed the door.

Washu's lab had grown over the years with new and improved inventions. Ryoko did'nt know what half of her machines were good for at all, or maybe even less than that. Neather did she carry any interest for her mothers passions of sciense, much to Washu's disapointment. No, they were like night and day. And sometimes even like cat and dog. Their moments of understanding and trust were few. Ryoko liked to keep it that way.

"Hey Washu! I was nice enough to bring you some leftovers from brekfast! Well, you want it?"

"Who's the chef today?" A suspicious and nasal voice came from within the darkness.

Ryoko snorted. "It's Mayuka.. And me. If you must know."

Washu giggled in her susual way as she stepped out from her dark corner of the room. "Guess half of it is eatable then" She teased.

"Just take the damn tray already." Ryoko said, handing over the food to her mother without looking her in the eyes.

Washu glansed at the food, then up at her daughter whos' arms were folded tightly to her chest in an annoyed manner.

"Say it's unusual for you to bring me food, little Ryoko. Or even pay your old mommy a visit these days! So, what is it that you want?"

Ryoko hesitated for a second before she spoke.

"Tell me something Washu.. aside from becoming calmer since you shut down my powers.. what else can happen to me? Like.. can my senses change because of it?"

"Sure they can. And Im guessing you have already experienced just that, am I right?" Washu asked as she graciously sat down on the floor with the tray on her lap.

Ryoko nodded. "I first noticed it the other day when we were all playing the first round of hide and seek, and I hid in one of the bigger closets. Normaly I would go into nightvision right away with my eyesight, but absolutely nothing happened. I got scared at first, but after a while my eyes slowly started to adjust. But not even close to the way I used to be able to see. Tell me, washu, How are my senses connected to my powersources?"

"I thought you said you hid under the bed in your room." Washu said questioning.

This caught Ryoko off guard as she began thinking about what had happened between her and Tenchi in the closet that day. She blushed furiously when the image of Tenchi laying ontop of her came into mind, but quickly snapped out of it.

"Th-thats not important here!" She hissed. "Now tell me! what is the connection?"

"Because I designed it that way. You powergems are the source to your extreeme abilities and your strong senses to hear, smell and taste. Without them, you are just like a normal girl. Kind of. Ofcourse, I created you to be a superhuman, Ryoko. You have greater senses that a normal human even without your powers. Only not even close to what they are with your gems attached. Your total loss of nightvision is probably just because your body is adjusting to your new self." Washu explained with her mouth full.

"Like... a normal girl?" Ryoko breathed. Hearing those words was like music to her ears!

"Well, as normal as can be, for someone like you my dear daughter. Im guessing you are eager to get them powers back, am i right?" Washu eyed Ryoko.

A faint blush apperared on Ryoko's cheeks. She turned away with a distant look in her eyes. "That's what I came to talk to you about" She began. "I... I dont think I want them back for a while."

The clapper of a pair of chopsticks could be heard against the floor. Then there was silence. Washu swallowed what she had left in her mouth and started to caugh wildly, trying to get a ricecorn out of her throat.

"What in the world are you doing?" Ryoko complained "Are you even listening to me?"

Washu grabbed a glass of water from the tray and swept it all in one breath, almost choking as she managed to swallow a few times before the ricecorn was gone. The little redhead held her hands around her neck, panting like a mad person.

"You dont want them back at all?" Washu looked shocked.

"I... I want to stay the way I am for a while. Just like this. Maybe I will want them back later on. But for now, I want to keep living like this, doing normal stuff and feeling at peace with myself." She explained, trying to be as honest as possible. "Its weird you know. I felt so much at loss at first. Like a part of me was missing. But now I feel more like a whole person than ever before. You... understand?"

"Ryoko."

The former space pirate sat down next to her mother, who looked pretty surprised at her daughters move. Ryoko relaxed her shoulders.

"I'm glad it happened. The roof, everything that has happened since that. If you had'nt felt the need to remove my powers, I never would have experienced what it could be like living without them. I feel... free. It's hard to explain but.. I feel.. Content. I guess Im trying to say that I don't want you to give them back without asking me first" She smiled.

"Im happy for you dear. And don't worry, I would'nt do that without your permisson. Ever."

Her mother's words felt so honest, she almost could'nt believe it.

"Y-you really mean that? Are you happy for me?" Ryoko blinked with disbelief.

Before she knew it, she felt a small hand being placed on her own as she could feel the warmth of it spread through her whole body. She looked up to face her mother, who smiled softly at her.

"I know I tease you sometimes. And I also know how much you hate it. Trust me, I do. You and I are so unlike eachother, its scary sometimes, you know?"

"Do tell" Ryoko said sarcasticly, to wich washu gave a chuckle.

"But Im here for you. and thats always, I hope you realise that. If you ever need anyone." She almost looked abit sad.

Ryoko snorted, but could'nt help smiling at her mothers sudden tenderness against her. Eventough it made her feel kind of weird having this conversation right now, there was something that made her feel safe and warm in her mothers precense.

"Just like you will always be there for Mayuka." Washu continued.

"Washu..." Ryoko trailed off as her eyes grew big.

"Where is Mayuka now, by the way?"

"She's taking care of the dishes. I should really be there to help her, but I just felt like I wanted to have this talk today. It's been on my mind for a while." Ryoko answered as she rose to the floor, dusting her clothes off with her hands.

"You got some really dirty floor here." She commented after noticing some oil-stains on her dress. "Nice." She tried to rub it off with little success. Without thinking, she scratched her nose with the same hand and smoldered some oil in her face as well, leaving her looking like a kid who had just played football all day in the yard.

Washu pointed at Ryoko. "You...umm..Got something.."

"Yeah I know, I'll just change dress and get this one washed. Me and May are doing the laundry now anyway. I'll leave you to eat now. Thank you for listening to me.. I apprechate it..." She said looking down. "mom."

That last word hit Washu in the right place. Not quite sure how to react to this, Washu tried her best to pretend as if she took it casualy.

"Go and take care of the little one now, Ryoko. I'll be joining you for supper later"

Ryoko nodded and made her way to the door.

Washu could hear her footsteps fade more and more, how they stopped for a second at the door, when she opened it and stepped out. As the door went shut, a releaved sigh came from the little redheaded scientist, still sittin on the floor with crossed legs. The food all of the sudden seemed to taste a little better that it ever had before, and the whole room seemed to have changed. Everything felt lighter.. For the first time in years. Had Ryoko forgiven her? Forgiven her for being such a terrible mother... The worst ever maybe. She tried to hold back a teardrop that formed in the corner of her eye.

As the door went shut behind the cyan-haired girl, she felt a revealing wave of peace flow through her body. She leaned backwards to the door, smiling in contentment as she thought about the recent events. This talk with Washu made another piece of the puzzle come to its right place. She was'nt sure herself why she had been able to open up like this to someone who had been nothing but an irritating aspect in her life in the house. Ofcourse, they had shared a few moments on the past, only to go back to their usual pattern of sarcasm or just being plain mean to eachother.

It all ended up in the same way. Ryoko would naturaly try to ignore her anoying mother, who in her turn, would try even harder to get her daughters attention. Often by intruding on her personal thoughts though their mental link, wich was now shut down.

But Ryoko herself was no angel, and she knew it very well. Even if her mother was more often than not, the main reason to their fights. Maybe that's what made her go in to the lab today. She just could'nt admit it to herself before.

'Dont expect me to call ya mommy just like that though! This will take time for me.' Ryoko thought to herself.

Deciding to drop her train of thought for the moment, Ryoko went to see what her own daughter was up to. As she passed thought the kitchen she could see that Mayuka had finished the rest of the dishes and put eveything back on its right place, making the whole kitchen shine.

"There's Sasami number two for ya" She mumbeled proudly as she heard a humming from another part of the house. The voice became clearer and clearer as Ryoko came closer to the laundryroom She peeked into the room to see Mayuka sorting out the clothes in different piles by color.

Mayuka hummed between mumbles.

"hmmmm...That one goes there... Pink and red... Green and black is okay I guess.."

She was so cute! Ryoko giggled softly and knocked a few times on the wall to make Mayuka aware of her standing there.

Her humming stopped as she turned her head around with a bright smile.

"Hey! Im almost done sorting everything here." She looked up and down at Ryoko and burst out in laughter. "Seems like you need to go in the washingmachine too mom!"

Remembering the oilstains on her dress, Ryoko joined in the laughter as she started pulling it off. "Thanks for the reminder!" She winked and threw it among the pink and red colors. She was now standing there in only her bra and panties, feeling quite cold and naked. She realised the only way of changing clothes would be to walk up to her room to get something from the closet.

"Mayuka, I will be back in just a minute! I gotta run upstairs to get some new clothes okay?"

She huttered and shaked while running through the house and up the stairs. The house was always somewhat cold during the autumn wich left the familymembers to wear thicker clothes and warming themselves up with lots of blankets. Ryoko was probably the only one who never was very much affected by it. So why did she freeze so much all of the sudden? This was like a minor turture! But then she stopped.

'Oh yeah... no powers' She thought, smacking her head.

She soon returned to Mayuka in the laundryroom after chaning into a white dress and pink gloves to go with it. It was nothing new, just something she had'nt worn since the day after merging with Zero. She had just forgot about it until now.

Mayuka made big eyes when she saw what Ryoko was wearing.

"Oh mommy! You look so pretty in that dress! How come you never worn it before?" She said with excitement, and at the same time trying not to start laughing at Ryoko's nose, wich still had oil all smudged out over it.

"What are you...?" Ryoko looked dumbfunded. She could'nt read her daughters reaction to her dress right now, and neather did she care right now. The laundry needed to be done in time for Tenchi to finnish off on the roof. Ryoko did'nt want the others to come home before she had the chance to take Tenchi and Mayuka on that picnic. This was her one opportunity to have a peaceful moment together with them, without the others begging for Tenchis attention. She was'nt gonna miss it for anything.

"Soooo May darlin', lets get this all started and overwith now."

Mayuka nodded, and the two girls started to load the two machines with almost all of the laundry, until it was almost impossible to close the lids.

"There we go! Can't fit another sock in there I think. Soooo now what?" Ryoko said happily.

Mayuka sighed, walked over to the machines and set both on fifthy minutes with extra rinse, before hiting the ON buttons.

Ryoko's sweatdrops were huge. "I knew that!"

"Sure you did, mom" Mayuka was'nt convinced, but forced a smile her mothers way.

Both girls winched at the sound of three knocks on the open door.

"Hey you, how's the laundry coming?"

"Daddy!" Mayuka shouted as she ran into Tenchis embrace for a very sweaty hug. "You're so warm daddy! You don't have a fever, do you?"

She put her hand to his forehead and nodded. "Yup, definately a fever. You should go and rest you know!" She said worriedly.

Tenchi gave Ryoko and amused glance and chuckled at his sweet daughter.

"Don't worry about me May, I've been working awfully hard today. It will go away in a minute, I just have to relax and take a shower. And after that, the three of us are going outside for that picnic, remember?"

"Ofcourse I remember silly!" Mayuka chimed and hugged Tenchi even harder. "And daddy, you got some dirt across your face" She pointed out before letting go.

"Yeah I know." Tenchi Smiled. "Seems like Im not the only one, huh, Mayuka?" Both looked up at Ryoko who looked rather surprised.

Ryoko crossed her arms. "What do you mean by that?"

Tenchi and Mayuka were now giggling together, with Ryoko standing up beside them, not having the slightest idéa of what they were having so much fun about.

"Fine, don't tell me anything." She complained loudly. Just as she started walking for the door, a hand took a firm grip around her wrist, making her stop in a motion.

Mayuka stood up. "I wanna go and see what Sasami prepared for us! Come on!" she giggled and disappeared to the kitchen.

Ryoko felt the grip becoming looser as the young man rose from his sitting position and stood.

Hesitatingly turning around, she was now standing face to face with Tenchi. She gasped mentaly.

Bright sunbeams that reached in from an open window, gracefully danced across Tenchis face, making his features seem even more intense than she had even noticed before. She swallowed hard. Moments like this made Ryoko realise how much her Tenchi had grown over the past seven years. Was he really twentyfour years old now? Heck.. He really was starting to look like a man.

He smiled, and reached for a towel from his pocket.

"You got something.. right here.." He said softly while carefully taking the towel to Ryoko's nose, wiping off the smudges with ease.

Ryoko could'nt move. The sweet sensation of Tenchis hand around her wrist made her blush like crazy as they stod so close.

Tenchi wiped away the last of the oil from Ryoko's nose and put it back in his pocket.

"Im sorry we laughed at you Ryoko." He said sincerely. "We did'nt mean to upset you... but.."

A small blush formed over his face.

"...but you looked so cute with that oil smudged allover your nose" He chuckled nervously, wondering why he had just said that.

"O-oil?" Ryoko studdered. "I mean, yeah? You think so?"

Tenchi did'nt answer to this, but instead he firmed his grip around Ryoko's wrist, drawing her closer to him in one gently pull. With no idéa what the hell he was thinking right now, the feeling he had inside was the same as in the closet that day when he has kissed.. her. It had felt so good! almost too good...

Not knowing if this was real or not, Ryoko decided it was'nt important. They were all alone, except for Mayuka ofcourse, but this time she was'nt going to let anyting get in the way of this happening. Her desire for Tenchi had doubled ever since he had accidently kissed her while playing hide and seek. Having him so close was unbareable.

All she knew, was that she needed to kiss him, now.

Just then, Ryoko felt how Tenchi slipped two warm and somewhet shaky arms around her waist, pulling her so close, she could now feel his whole body being pressed agains her own as their breaths increased.

Ryoko gave Tenchi a determined glace before she placed her arms around Tenchis bare neck, preparing herself to close the distance between them. This time, she would'nt hesitate.

Tenchi himself slid one hand behind Ryoko's neck, eager to pull her in closer. Eager to feel her warm lips agains him own. Their warm and ragged breaths met as two pair of lips were only inches away from meeting in one passionate merging.

"..Ryoko..." He whispered before closing his eyes, ready to greet the sensation of-

RIIIIIIIING!

"Oh my god ouch!"

Silence...

"Are you okay?"

RIIIIIIING!

Tenchi looked worriedly at Ryoko, who were busy rubbing a bump on her forehead.

"Tenchi.." She wined. "I cant believe you knocked me again. Im starting to suspect you're trying to really knock me out here!"

"Im so sorry Ryoko! I don't know why I did that! The young boy appologised, his hands still resting on her waist. Both of them had got quite a scare when the loud ring of the Masaki-telephone had gone off and interrupted them. Tenchi had also managed to knock Ryoko's forehead because of the sudden noise.

RIIIIIING!

Silence.

Mayukas voice could be heard from the kitchen.

"The phone is ringing! I can't reach it, cause you don't want me to! Cause you placed it too high!" She yelled.

Tenchi brushed a few strands away from Ryokos forehead, feeling useless as ever.

"I gotta take that! Might be Grandpa you know. He might get worried if nobody answers."

RIIIIIIING!

Ryoko turned away from Tenchi, still looking like she was in alot of pain."Don't worry about me, Just get the damn phone before it explodes from overheating." She said sarcasticly.

Tenchi nodded and ran off downstairs to take the call out in the hallway. Ryoko rubbed her forehead with a small grin of her face. She didn't know who this new person in the Masakihouse was. He had black hair and wore the name Tenchi. That was all she knew for the time being. Who he was and where he came from... Was a mistery. Or maybe this was who her Tenchi really was? Just a different one that would dare showing care and affection for her without being afraid. Afraid of her and her uncontrollable temper and obsession with him everyday.

"He has changed.." She whispered to herself. "Because I changed". It was all so damn clear to her now that she thought about it. This was what she wanted. Not a scared Tenchi trying to escape her grip of steel every morning while yelling at her to get the hell out of his room. That was in the past. It seemed to long ago. She sighed with contentment.

"Hey Ryoko!" Tenchis voice was hear from downstairs.

"U-huh?" She began walking down the staircase where she met Tenchi halfway.

"Sasami called to tell us that both she and Ayeka will be home later this evening. And we had better get going now if we wanna have a picnic while the sun is still high in the sky. Mayuka has already dressed herself and packed everything together, so its only you and me we are waiting for." He said cherfully.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Ryoko smiled and walked past Tenchi to pick up Mayuka who was all dressed in her Red jacket with small white dots allover it. She turned to Tenchi, feeling that she couldnt wait to spend the day outside with her two most loved people in the world.

"I bet I can run faster that you, even without my powers! I dare ya!" She teased while stepping into her boots with little difficulty. "Ha ha! Catch us if you can!" She grabbed her coat and ran out the doorway, giggling wildly between pantings.

Without a word, Tenchi also grabbed his shoes and jacket before darting after the two girls out in the lovely autumn weather.

The sun was still high in the sky and bright as ever when Tenchi and the two girls reached the perfect spot for a picnic.

Soooooo yeah! :) That's all for chapter three. This chapter was originally gonna be longer, but I decided to cut here. Im sooo sorry it took me almost 6 months to post this. I have so little time to write right now that Im in school and everything. But I hope this will give me some inspiration to continue further! I already know whats gonna happen next... ;)


	4. Chapter 4

A young lightblue-haired girl laid on her back as she watched her Tenchi play on the field with his precious daughter.

From her view it looked like they were running upside-down.

It really was something else to watch him like this.

Almost like he and Mayuka existed in a world of their own, and nothing else was important at that moment.

He was fully present and it seemed that he was in a state of total contentment.

Ryoko felt as if she was trapped in some sort of magical trance.

"Tenchi…"

A small but honest smile was formed on her lips.

Just being here alone with Tenchi and May seemed so unreal. And the more she thought about it, the more she started to realize that something had changed between them.

Right now she couldn't point out exactly what. All she knew what that it made her feel safe.

Tenchi and May's little tag-game had turned into quite an amusing scene where Tenchi actually had to struggle a little to catch his daughter. She was real quick and Tenchi just could'nt keep up with her sudden twist and turns.

Ryoko couldn't help but laugh.

- Hey Tenchi! Havin' a hard time there?" she winked at him. "Thats my mighty prince of Jurai haha!"

She rolled over to her stomach and watched with a half-evil smirk on her face.

Tenchi laughed nervously and started to feel rather frustrated with Mayuka's witty tricks.

"Hey I got you now Mayuka, prepare for revenge!" He called out as he darted towards the running toddler.

With his last strengts, Tenchi reached back and jumped straight at Mayuka with his arms straight out.

Ryoko thought that time seemed to stop while Tenchi was in mid-air. But it sure seemed to speed up surprisingly fast

As Mayuka made another awfully quick turn and left Tenchi behind her with his face first down in the dirt.

With a loud thump, Tenchi hit the ground with very little control.

Quick to her feet, Ryoko rose from her spot on the blanket, this time with a more worried look.

"Hey Tenchi! Are you okay down there?" She walked over to him and bent over with hands on her knees.

Tenchi coughed and spitted as he turned around on his back "Yeah it you enjoy dirt between your teeth, then yes!"

When Ryoko saw Tenchi's face like this, she couldn't help but laugh. He looked ever so cute with mud and dirt all smeared across his face.

"Looks like it, judging from the delicioud mud dripping from your mouth Tenchi", Ryoko teased.

"Yuck.." Tenchi mumbled as he tried to wipe his mouth with his sleeve. But since there was dirt allover his clothes too, It only made it worse.

"C'mon, lets go home and give you two kids a nice bath" Ryoko giggled and reached out her hand to a very troubled Tenchi.

"Please don't tell the others about this Ryoko" Tenchi sighed.

"I promise I wont tell Sasami you already ate." Ryoko laughed.

They had both almost forgotten about the little girl called May, who was started a little game on her own while the grownups turned their backs.

"It goes like this, and around and around, the merry go round, and around and around! This is the carival I found"

Mayuka was spinning around singing, and hey could see that she had done so for a while. She actually looked rather sick as she came stumbling towards the couple on the ground.

Tenchi and Ryoko stared at May when she suddenly stopped her twirling dance, right next to her father.

"Mayuka?" He said, looking somewhat confused.

The young girl swallowed.

"I don't feel so good… I …."

Ryoko reacted quickly and reached out for Mayuka to carry her away from Tenchi.

The problem was, something inside of the little girl reacted even quicker, much to her fathers surprise.

He was not only covered in mud and dirt anymore, but also the result of Mayuka's spinning around. In fact, it was allover his shirt,his pants and his shoes.

Mayukas eyes grew wide.

"I… Im sorry, daddy!" She cried out with hands covering her mouth!

The boy sighed with a smile and looked at his daughter. "Don't worry Honey. If I could, I would hug you right now, but you you know what? I probably shouldn't" he chuckled and tried to stand up, trying to hide a disgusted expression.

"Haha! Man Tenchi, it looks like you've been out in war" Ryoko said as she helped him to his feet.

The poor boy sighed and looked down on the mess on his shirt. "Yeah yeah lets just go home now so I can get out of this shirt." He complained.

Ryoko swung her arm over his head and rested it on his shoulder as she began dragging him with her.

"I like it baby" She teased. "Why can't you ever behave when we're trying to have a nice picnic. like ever?"

Tenchi muttered something as Ryoko burst out in laughter.

"Daddy! Daddy!" May came running from behind with the happiest smile they had caught her with for a long time. "Now you have to take a bath with me daddy! Isnt that great? Right mommy?" She said with hope.

Ryoko peered at Tenchi with a mischevious grin and whispered. "Can I look?"

Tenchi's face became red as ever as he sighed in defeat.

The couple walked home with the little one on top of Ryokos shoulders. She kept on yelling at Ryoko to take off and fly her the rest of the way home.

Ryoko would just smile at this and tell her that all airlines has been cancelled for the near future. Eventhough the young spacepirate was good at hiding her emotions, Tenchi could see that the question was a little heavy on her.

Maybe it was best not to remind her of it until Washu decided to give her powers back.

He put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a small squeeze.

"Everyone knows that its never a good idéa to take off with a plane when there's a storm coming, Mayuka." He winked at her.

His comment was followed by a distand thunder from behind the mountains. And shortly after that, the first raindrops hit their faces.

"Run!" Mayuka chimmed.

They ran inside the Masaki residence all at once. And saying they were wet, was an understatement of high degree. They were absolutely soaking and dripping like crazy in the hallway and their clothes were sticky and cold to their bodies.

"Oh just get me out of these clothes already! This is pure torture!" Ryoko complained as she tried to wring some rainwater out of her sleeves.

"This used to be much easier... back when...oh well...no use thinking about that" She thought.

"Mayuka, could you hurry and prepair the thub for your father and yourself while im getting changed?" She asked as she turned to the little girl who was now shaking as she held both her arms around her.

"C-c-aaaan" She studdered.

Ryoko kept her eye on Mayuka as she ran away. Sometimes she had to remind herself of that her little girl was'nt more that seven years old. But she always managed herself so well. She almost never needed to be looked after. More times than not, May was the one to look after the rest of the family by reminding them of important things or taking care of chores that had been forgotten.

Tenchi darted into the cleaningroom and slipped out of his shirt as he held his breath. He wrinkled his entire face as he threw the soaked piece of clothing in the sink and turned the water on. He couldnt even look as he forced himself to clean off the worst of the mess by hand before putting it in the washer.

"There." He groaned and wiped some sweatdrops from his forehead. "Guess I dont have a stomach for stuff like that." he admitted to himself and closed the lid and turned on the water in the shower.

"Its a good thing the shower and the thub is in separate rooms" he tought to himself before stepping into the warm water.

After a much needed shower, Tenchi bathroom to find his daughter standing in the middle of the thub, still with most of her clothes on and almost no water in it.

"D-d-d-ont f-f-forgettt- the b-bubbles!" Mayuka shivered, her lips trembling with cold.

"Oh but May, you really need to undress before jumping in, did you forgett that?" Tenchi smiled worriedly.

"I k-kno-o-w Dadd-y! It's just t-that i-i-im s-s-o C-c-c-old!"

"I'll add some extra bubbles today" Tenchi promised as he drew her into his arms and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "But please get those soaked clothes off now."

May nodded and gave her father a kiss on his forhead also.

Tenchi was surpsired how easy she was to get in the thub today.

"Who are you and what have you done to my little girl?" Tenchi laughed.

Mayuka's lips trembled even worse as she tried to speak again. "I-i-im s-still m-me! And I'im C-c-COLD!"

Ryoko, who just came down the stairs with new clothes on, peered into the bathroom to see Tenchi sitting on his knee hugging his sweet little daughter.

Mayuka looked up to see Ryoko standing in the doorway.

"Mum, I wanna give you a kiss too, cause I just gave daddy one!" she smiled.

The young adults both looked at each other and couldnt do other than smile at this.

"Go and kiss her then" Tenchi chuckled and let go of his hold around her.

She ran over to Ryoko s´who also sat down on both knees, and gave her a big and loud kiss on the cheek.

Mayuka looked ever so happy. "And now you two kiss!" She chirped.

Tenchi was so surprised by this request that he lost balance for a second. It was enough to make him fall on his behind.

"Mayuka!" Ryoko chuckled, trying to maintain her facecolor. "Only couples do that you see." She explained with the weirdest smile Tenchi had ever seen.

Mayuka gave her mother a puzzled look. She came so close to Ryoko that she too almost lost her balance.

"But... you are." May said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "And therefor, you must now kiss"

"Is that an order?" Ryoko laughed.

"Yes!" Mayuka stated and managed to look very stubborn. "And if you dont do it, I wont ever take a bath again!" she said and crossed her arms.

"But if you refuse to take baths, no one will ever want to kiss you. Isnt that horrible?" her father tried, knowing how hard it was sometimes getting may in the thub. It really wasnt her favourite activity.

"Not a problem"! Mayuka said, still arms crossed.

Tenchi looked at Ryoko and sighed in defeat. "hehe.. We can't have a dirty little girl running around the house forever i guess."

"That's right May, so do as your father tells you now, and get into the thub before the water gets cold." Ryoko lectured, not getting the meaning of what Tenchi just said.

Surprised, she saw Tenchi in the corner of her eye, moving towards her on the floor.

Ryoko's heart stopped.

"what are you-"

She did'nt even have time to react before she realised that Tenchis soft lips was being pressed against her cheek.

Pulling away, he gave her a short and gentle gaze before tuning to Mayuka again.

"There you go little miss dirty. Happy now?" He smiled.

"You can't hide anything from me you know." Mayuka stated simply and giggled as she waved her indexfinger at them.

Ryoko looked at Tenchi. What do you answer to that?

Mayuka started spinning around slowly in the water and formed some sort of tornado.

The faster she spun, the bigger the twirling tornado became around her.

Suddenly they were all interrupterd by a strong light that shortly were followed by a loud bang from outside.

Tenchi rose from the floor. "I think I might have to unplug the tvset, just to be on the safe side. I cant take one more exploding tv." He said as he walked out of the room.

Ryoko crossed her arms with a frown and muttered to herself.

"Ayeka should have known better than standing infront of the tv while accusing me of running away from the dishes. What a hag she is. I was gonna do those stupid chores... eventually... " She thought with a sour expression, knowing very well that she was'nt.

Ryoko did'nt quite pay attention to what the girl in the thub was doing and also failed to notice how much water that was actually on the floor.

"Mommy, Im done. I wanna watch the thunder now!" May said splashing her hands against the surface.

Ryoko quickly forgott all about the incident with the tv as she heard May call mer 'mommy' again, and felt herself becoming the sweet, caring 'mother' that she loved to be.

She lifted the little one out of the thub and dried her with her usual carrot-towel that Sasami got her.

"There you go kiddo! Listen, go and hang with daddy for a while okay? Im gonna clean up in here. Where the heck did all of this water come from huh?" Ryoko asked roughing up May's hair.

May did as she was told and left the cyan-haired girl in the bathroom.

It took a while to get rid of all the water since May managed to splash most of it out on the floor. "Man, you could think that a smaller whale rolled around in there" she complained to herself while sweeping the last of the water down the drain.

As she opened the door, she realised something that gave her somewhat of a shock.

Everything outside of the bathroom was absolutely pitch black. Was it dark outside already?

Before she had time to ponder any further, something cracked behind her and suddenly everything around her was black. She couldnt see a thing.

"Damn lights!"

She couldnt even make out any contoures of the furnitures or anything!

Ryoko held her hand up before her face and understood that this must be what it was like for normal people in the darkness. She could also understand how some people would panic. Not that she was going to panic, no. Not her. Not the brave and unbeatable Ryoko. That simply would'nt happen, not in this universe!

She just stood there for a minute, waiting for her vision to adjust a little and maybe she would be able to make her way to the kitchen and light a candle.

"Tenchi!" She half-shouted out in the room.

No answer. Actually, she could'nt even hear any movement at all, no voices, no nothing!

"C'mon yo guys, why are you doing this?" she pleaded into the darkness.

And why was'nt her eyes adjusting at all? This could never be right! She knew that even humaneyes worked better than this.

"C-come on Tenchi! I can't see anything here, would you please get a candle or something!"

She felt how stiff her body was as she pressed herself to the wall.

"Help me..." She whispered.

The room was so dark, her eyes started playing tricks on her whenever she would try to keep her eyes focused on one spot. All sorts of colors danced before her vision.

"Maybe if I could to and walk out in the kitchen.. I would be able to find the candles for sure." She tought to herself. "One step at the time... heck... I'm scared...It's because... No I dont want to think about that right now. Its only gonna get worse."

She took a few steps in the directin of what she thought was somewhat right from where she was standing right now.

With both arms stretched out to feel any possible objects before her, she made her way to the kitchendoor with little grace.

This was frightening. As hard as it was to admit, Ryoko could'nt deny this feeling of being alone in what felt like a big nothing.

"Sh-shit..."

In her head, a map formed of the room and she was pretty sure that she was soon standing infront of the pantry. She was eager to open it and grab the bag with candles and matches.

"Should be right about here..." She thought as she reached her hands out.

But instead of finding the pantrydoor, she could feel herself walking right into something that made her loose controll and fall head first over the something.

With a terrified shriek she landed on the floor, taking most of the fall with her elbows.

The fall seemed to awaken something in her. The panic that Ryoko was trying to surpress since she found herself in darkness was catching up on her.

Gasping and panting she desperately tried to feel her way crawling across the floor.

The sensation was overwhelming and she could'nt recall feeling anything close to this before.

"I... I can't breathe!...shit! what is this?!"

The terrified girl reached her arms out just to get a hold of something, anything that she would recognize.

Something that felt like fabric touched against her hand.

Being in the panic state of mind that Ryoko was, she did'nt realise what it was before she had a steady grip around it, pulling it to her.

Moments later, rain of dishes fell upon Ryoko's head. Crashes of fine Porcleincups and plates could be heard from everywhere, togehter with the slams and bangs of pots and fryingpans hitting the floor. All at once.

In the middle of the mayhem, Ryoko could hear how someone opened the front door.

It was such a relief to know, that she wasn't all alone.

Feeling the panic slowly fade away making her less dizzy, Ryoko could feel a heavy weight being lifted from her chest. She could no longer keep the tears from building up.

She could hear Tenchi and Mayuka chat as they made their way through the house. Then she heard Tenchis soft voice calling out.

"Ryoko? Hey Ryoko are you here? The power went out because of the storm, but it should be okay real soon. We found some candles in grandpas shrine."

The light from the candles danced on Mayuka and Tenchi's faces, as they looked confunded at eachother.

"Mommy? Where are you?" Mayuka called out.

They stood in the hallway waiting for Ryoko to call back at them, but there was only silence.

All of a sudden, they could hear something roll around on the kitchenfloor.

"A plate?" Mayuka commented.

Father and daughter looked at eachother as they began walking towards the sound.

"What's she doing in there?" Tenchi thought as he narrowed his eyes.

Seconds later they were stung by the strong light from the kitchenlamp that got its power back with a snap.

"Oww geez that hurts!"

Tenchi had to cover his eyes with his hands for a short while until they adjusted to this newfound light.

Before he had the chance to search the room, he could feel a small hand tug to his shirtsleeve.

His little daughter was tugging and pointing at something that could be seen from behind the table.

A feet.

Tenchi got stiff. Was that Ryoko? Why was she just laying there? Was she... hurt?

"Daddy? Maybe you should go and see if she's okay" Mayuka said, her voice very small.

He nodded, feeling a bit shaky.

"Y-yeah"

But he did'nt need to.

Ryoko rose from the ground with one movement wich made all of the dishes that was covering her fall to the ground with an awfull noise. Plates were rolling and cups were breaking together with silverspoons that hit the floor. She stood up with her back to them.

"Hey you two! Glad youre back, and the lights are also back on too, wow that's great! Listen I gotta go upstairs and do something, so you two just wait here until I get back Okay?"

Father and daughter watched as the cyanhaired girl sidewalked out of the room, as if she was trying very hard not to show her face to them. It looked extremely weird and Tenchi could'nt understand what she was doing on the floor.

"Whats going on mommy?" Mayuka asked, looking more than pussled.

"Hehehe I'll be right back" Ryoko mumbled before she exit the kitchen. As soon as she was out of sight, Tenchi could hear her rush for the stairs.

She was so ashamed. How in the world was she going to explain that? Her face felt so warm and red.

She dried her tears away again, but they seemed to bubble up from nowhere.

As if they were trying to tell her to cry them all out before it was done.

But she would refuse them as long as she possibly could because the very last thing she wanted to do was cry like a baby infront of Tenchi and Mayuka. Whay would they think of her if she told them that she was terrified of the dakness? All because she lost her ability to see clearly in the dark. She never would have expected her reaction to be like this. Never in a thousand more years!

"Not even Sasami or Mayuka would loose their controll because of something so small as a brownout"

Ryoko sighed as she looked out the window.

Lost in though, she could'nt hear how Tenchi carefully opened the door behind her. She could'nt hear how he tip-toed his way across the room. She could'nt even hear his light breathing as he moved closer. She also could'nt hear that he was now standing right behind her.

What she could'nt miss though, was how two pair of hands came sliding around her waist.

Her reaction came so soon that the poor boy was'nt able to get out of her way.

With a surprised shriek, Ryoko spun around with her elbows up, managing to strike Tenchi right in solar plexus.

Before She knew what she had done, Tenchi was laying on the floor cramping in pain and fighting to breathe.

Ryoko came rushing to his side with guilt painted allover her face.

"Tenchi! Im really sorry, you scared me hey!"

She had a hard time looking him in the eyes when she could see how much he was hurting.

Tenchi were in alot of pain, but it seemed he could'nt keep a little smile away.

"I'm Sorry for scaring you Ryoko" He apologized between breaths.

Ryoko raised a brow.

"Why were yo sneaking up on me like that anyway Tenchi? If the answer is giving me a heart attack, then I must say you did great." She stated, but quickly changed her attitude to somthing she thought would sound abit more like her usual brave self.

"But then again, Im not scared of anything, so. It was just that I was somewhere else." She said looking away, not being very convincing.

She stood up while offering her hand to Tenchi.

"Here."

Tenchi felt like he did'nt quite recognise this Ryoko, wich made him feel uncomfortable around her. He rubbed his back with one hand and let Ryoko help him up with the other.

"I'm so tired Tenchi. Better go to bed right now" She said, still not looking at him.

"Hey, what's the matter with you? What happened to you tonight while me ad Mayuka were not here? I'm so confused Ryoko."

The young boy was looking at someone that was very fragile at this moment. Tenchi felt his eyes grow wider as he watched a silent tear make its way out of her eyecorner.

Quick to wipe it away, she turned her back to him again.

"Where's May?" She asked quietly.

"She fell asleep right before I got here." He answered reasuring.

Ryoko nodded.

"Tenchi... I used to have powers. And.. I need to be honest. I liked it that way. They would help me in tough situations where I would have been blasted to bits if it would'nt have been for them. They made me feel immortal and fearless no matter what. I was able to defent myself as well as change clothes in a whim. And alot of other stuff dissappeared aloing with my powers Tenchi.

"I'm listening, Ryoko".

The young woman sighed deeply be´fore continuing.

"I guess I have never even thought about what it would be like to live like a norman person. To be free of all the bonusskills that I had. Like walk through walls or teleport. All of those things I took for granted and I never concidered being without. And there's also this one thing that caught me by surprise today. When the lights went out Tenchi, I was chocked to realise how I reacted and how poorly I handled it... I paniced like an idiot. Tripped and fell in the kitchen and to be honest, I have never felt so alone in my life. Thats all I have to say about that." She stated with a dry tone. "There, you have it. I don't want to discuss it any further."

Tenchi watched his friend with hurt in his eyes. He could'nt believe what she was saying. Not because he did'nt believe her. But because he never thought he would hear something like this from her.

"Ryoko..I'm sorry I was'nt here with you. I'm really sorry. I had no thought that it would effect you like it did. I wish I would have known. Because if I had..."

Ryoko was surpried to feel two hands grab a soft hold of both her arms, giving them a light squeese.

"I never would have left your side."

Ryoko carefully let herself loose of his grip and took a step closer to the window.

"It does'nt matter. I've already made a fool of myself today. I don't want to be reminded of this, Okay?"

Tenchi did'nt respond to this wich made Ryoko turn around in pure annoyance.

"I said Okay?!" She hissed.

But her anger dissappeared just as quick as it came. Tenchi was looking at her with calm eyes and a smile full of understanding.

He knew that she did'nt do it on purpouse, but right now she managed to look like a big questionmark. A very sweet one.

"Why are you smiling huh?" Ryoko asked suspiciously. She just told him about something that was really botherting her, and now he was smiling? She was not in the mood for this.

Tenchi sighed.

"Ryoko, what happened to you is perfectly normal. Especially since you have never really experienced what its like to be in darkness. And a pitch black house all alone at that! I can fully understand what you must have been going through and I don't think any less of you because of it! Don't you understand that? And I don't think any less of you because you don't have your powers. That's just ridiculus. I think you are great the way you are. You are amazing just the way you are."

He gently raised his hand and stroked Ryoko's cheek before turning around, heading for his bed.

"The others will be back tomorrow, so we'd better get some good rest now. They will probably want to do something as a family when we are all together again."

Ryoko began walking towards the door, feeling like she had to be alone for a while. But she did'nt notice how a furry little cabbit came crawling out from under Tenchis bed.

Before any of them knew it, Ryoko managed to trip and fall headlessly the second time that day.

She let out a surprised scream as her arms reached out to grab anything to hold on to. Wich in this case was Tenchi.

He grunted in pain as he felt Ryoko's weight ontop of him on the bed, causing them to knock heads.

"Aoch! Ryoko what the hell!"

"What the hell what!? I tripped on something hey! It was'nt my fault! You need to get that head of yours in better controll orelse we both will end up without!"

The couple on the bed both rubbed their foreheads and realised they both had a big bump from the knock.

"That's gonna look great tomorrow, thanks Tenchi." Ryoko complained as she turned her head around to get a better look at what had caused her to fall in the first place.

"You!" Where have you been? I thought you were with Sasami!"

The little Cabbit peered out from underneath Tenchis bed with tears in her eyes.

"Oh look at her Ryoko" Tenchi pleaded. "Don't scold her. She did'nt mean to hurt us you know"

"Yeah I know. She just scared me." She said looking at her partner in crime on the floor. "Come, Ryo-ohki".

The sweet little cabbit meowed in relief and came hopping onto the bed where her mistress and Tenchi were laying.

"Now be a good girl and stay here." Ryoko stroked Ryo-ohkis head. "You can sleep in my bed tonight." She said with a smile.

The cyan-haired girl took her attention from her pet to Tenchi who was still laying underneath her.

"Its getting a little hard to breath" he said, visibly fighting to catch his breath. He knew that she had alot of muscles, but he never knew she would be this heavy.

Ryoko was quick to move to the side.

"Oh sorry. I guess she really gave me a scare."

Tenchi nodded with a smile.

"Yeah she's full of surprises. Just like you" he cuckled.

"That's how we roll" She yawned softly.'

The room went quiet for a couple of minutes. All that could be eard was the sound of Ryo-ohki that tried her best to make a good spot for herself to sleep in.

She walked around in circles before folding her small legs under her.

"Good night Ryo." Tenchi said.

He felt how the young woman called Ryoko moved her body closer to him, until she was resting her head on his arm. The rythmical sound of his breathing made her feel so calm and serene. For the first time in a long while, she could allow herself to fully relax every muscle in her body and let every tension go. Her eyes all of a sudden felt so uncontrollably heavy and tired that she had to fight to keep herself awake.

"Hey, are you sleeping?" Tenchi asked, trying to get a glimpse of her eyes.

She mumbled something barely audiable in Tenchis ear as she crawled closer, putting her hand on his chest.

"H-hey Ryoko." He stuttered softly. "Are you really going to sleep here?"

He admitted to himself that this was making him feel abit nervous, but he just could'nt tell her to go sleep in her own bed now. Not after what happened today. And besides. He was'nt sure he wanted her to leave.

"Good night then, Ryoko." He whispered.

She yawned again and rolled over on her side so that she had her back to him.

"Tenchi..." she mumbled.

"Yes..?"

"Hold me, please. Im cold."

The request was simple and sincere. He did't hesitate for one second. Reaching out his arms to Ryoko he gently slid his arms around her waist, pulling her as close to him as possible were.

Tenchi was'nt sure that he was able to think straight right now, wich made him scared. The fact that he was laying so close to the former space pirate made his head spin and heart race.

What if somebody came home and saw them like this? No, they won't be back until tomorrow. He was sure of it.

He could hear how Ryoko switched to deepsleep breathing, making her body rise and sink even slower now. So peaceful.

"I wont ever let something like that happen to you. That's a promise" He whispered in her ear. "You mean alot to me."

He was just about to close his eyes when he heard Ryoko's voice.

"Hey..."

Tenchi moved closer to get a clear picture of what she was saying.

"Yeah...?"

She pressed herself against his chest even more before turning around to him.

"Kiss me.. Tenchi."

This time she did'nt wait for her request to be fullfilled. With a soft sigh, she slid her hand around his head and gently forced it to her, stopping only inched away from his mouth.

"Tenchi... I want you.."

As his eyes grew wide, Ryoko closed the last distance between them into an electric kiss that made them both forget about time and space.

Aaaaaand that's all I got for this chapter ;) Since I was'nt originally gonna write this fic in more than one chapter, I would like to ask for your help to end this story.

And what would be better than be part of the conclusion of a fuffy Tenchi and Ryoko fic? ;)

I don't know how to end it, because there's just way to many T+Rfics where they end up together and they tell everyone and the story ends with everyone leaving but Ryoko.

Thats not satisfying enough... But maybe they don't need to tell? Or maybe its all gonna end up in some totally different way?

You, tell, me. :)

I have asked DarkPatu about this since I love the way he writes. But I'd love to hear from all of you.

soo whats it gonna be? ;)

/Elin


	5. A question to my readers :)

So was it hard to read the 4:th chapter? I noticed after i uploaded that I never made it clear when the next scene began. Its just alot of text.

Should I change this or maybe no one cared? : )

Pls tell me if this was disturbing!

/Elin


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